Not Like the Movies
by MsDiana
Summary: Penelope is tired of dating the same type of guy. The ones who can never really be the right one. The team has a singles' party and she meets a new man. Luke is not pleased about this development but he has to figure out what he's going to do about it. When he finally gets a plan in place, Penelope has to decide if it's finally enough for her.
1. Chapter 1

New Story. Sorry, this is a bad day for me so I have nothing clever to say. Hope you enjoy this and thanks for everything on my other stories.

* * *

"Ladies, ladies, please!" Penelope pleaded with them as the three women followed her into the room.

"Garcia, what is it that we need to sneak around the office for?"

"It's not that. It's just- Ugh!" Penelope moved to lean against her desk. "Tara, please shut the door."

"Sure." Tara eyed her but followed her instruction. She made her way back into the open part of the room to stand in between Emily and JJ.

Penelope shut her eyes and then opened them to see the three women in front of her staring in her direction. "Okay, gals. I found a ring."

"A ring?" Emily's eyebrow went high on her forehead.

"Yes, a ring. Sam left his jacket on my couch, and I went to pick it up and hang it in the closet until I had him over again, and a ring box fell out of the pocket."

"And it was…" JJ's tilted her head at Penelope.

"Yes, JJ. I believe it was a ring for me. I opened the box; it was an engagement ring for sure. And since he's been begging me to be official again for some time now, I have to assume as much." Penelope huffed. The logistics weren't the issue.

"Okay, and this is," Tara glanced to her comrades on either side of her, "a bad thing?"

"Very, very bad." Penelope pushed off the desk and began pacing. "This is what happened with Kevin. I found out he wanted to propose, and I had to put a stop to it. Then, poof, no boyfriend anymore. Sam is not my boyfriend, and I don't want him to be, but it was already hard enough trying to tell him I enjoy hanging out with him occasionally but not regularly. I doubt he is going to continue to help me learn new music when I officially have to break his heart too."

Emily blew out a breath, "So… you need to..."

"What I need is to make sure I am never alone with Sam again ever in life, but that would be a terrible conversation too. I guess I need to break off what isn't on anymore anyway. Or maybe I need him to not want me? I don't know. The point is, I like having someone to call when I want to, but I don't want that to change, but it'll have to just like last time with Kevin, and we all know that didn't end super pleasantly. And Sam is still in my music group. Do you know how hard it is to find a group of middle aged adults that like to get together and learn wind instruments they failed at in sixth grade? It's not like I can just change softball leagues here."

JJ silently chuckled. "So really you're worried about your hobby and about it being inconvenient to have to find someone else to call when you want to be taken out to dinner?"

"Uh, sort of?" Penelope raised one shoulder. "I mean, it's not like it's pleasant to tell someone that you have no intention of ever marrying them. It never goes well."

"I've been proposed to once, and I said yes. It eventually broke off, but I have never been in that predicament, let alone twice," Tara informed her.

"I put Will off for a while, but let's be honest. I had his kid. That is a far bigger commitment than marriage. I was just fearful about what it would make me feel about my job and feeling independent, but that feeling wasn't going to last forever." JJ gave Penelope an apologetic smile.

"I've had a few of the guys talk about it, but, if it had happened… not sure I would have been scared by it. Looks like you're the hot ticket item, PG. You have to turn 'em down and break their souls." Emily laughed, and the other girls followed suit.

Penelope glared at them. "Ha ha, you guys. This isn't funny. I don't enjoy this predicament. It isn't pleasant." She sighed and threw herself back into her chair. "Maybe I should just let him. Maybe I should just say 'yes' and get it all over with."

"Really? You broke up with him years ago because you didn't even like him anymore." JJ gave her an incredulous raise of her eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe I should just call Kevin, or, hell, Shane, or literally anyone else in my past that wanted more and see if they still do. Just try it out once and for all. It's not like the dating pool is getting better out there." Penelope threw her head back.

"Garcia, you don't mean that." JJ stepped forward to sit on the desk and put a comforting hand on Penelope's arm.

"Don't I? It's sort of bullshit out there. I'm going to turn forty and meet the right guy? Doubtful. That's not how it works."

"Thanks for reminding us." Emily scoffed and scowled at her. Penelope rolled her eyes in return.

"Okay, but really. As much as we are all strong feminist ladies, who can all make it on our own, if we did want someone, it's not like there are a bunch of nice handsome men in their forties who are unattached, no kids, and are stable worthwhile catches."

"I see what you mean, but that's not always the case. Derek was a prime example of that." JJ countered. "And Luke, for that matter."

"Derek was an enigma. And also, you're sort of wrong. Yes, he was single, no kids, and a good guy, but it took him awhile to get there. Good for him for getting it right, but most of them don't wait. I am not carting some divorced dad's three kids to soccer practice so that his nosey ex-wife can judge how I pack her kids' snacks." Penelope shook her head. "And we all know my infatuation with Luke ended _immediately_ and _entirely_ the day I met Lisa. So let's not even mention it. Just like you all agreed we wouldn't."

"Okay." Tara nodded. "So you don't date someone with kids then." Tara shrugged.

"Oh, and I want to be someone's second wife? I want to be at my wedding and have their Great Aunt Carol tell me how much better Lizzy looked in her dress and how she picked better centerpieces? Get real!" Penelope huffed.

"Okay, so no divorcees either," Emily suggested

Penelope stuck her neck out. "And where am I going to find that guy? Derek was a unicorn, and, even then, Savannah still had a bit of a challenge on her hands. We've all seen his conquests over the years. Did any of you think he would be a good idea to commit to?" She gave them all a raised eyebrow, and they nodded in acquiescence of her point. "But hot guys in their forties that aren't broken are not easy to come by. So, shouldn't I take one of the ones I found already? Am I just being greedy?"

"If it's not right for you, then it's not right. I broke up with my fiancé because of that. I don't regret it. I might've regretted making the mistake of marrying him though." Tara smiled at her with sympathy.

Penelope sighed. "I know. I get it. But I do like being in a partnership, and I'm just wondering what it is that isn't right with these guys? They're nice. They're fine. But they just aren't what I am looking for. Why do I even bother dating them?"

"Because you have to find that out first?" JJ rubbed her arm again. "Garcia, you do know what you are looking for. Remember those stupid lists we made when we were drunk? They hold up, even more than a decade later. Will ended up being almost everything on my list. You know what you want, and it's not anyone you've already dated."

"Yeah, okay." Penelope shrugged. "I guess I will just cut Sam off at the pass. We are going to a music thing this weekend in Harper's Ferry. I'll just tell him that I don't think we should hang out alone anymore. Hopefully, he understands that would put a damper on the whole marriage thing."

"Good for you. And hey, maybe we can all try and set each other up? Or maybe do a single's mixer? I was talking to Luke about him setting me up with one of his buddies, so what if we all bring some friends and just let it all happen? We can have a party, no pressure, and you can see that there are some great guys out there still." Tara smiled at her hopefully.

Penelope sighed, but it was less pathetic. "Sure. but does that mean I have to bring friends too? Crap." Penelope twisted her nose up. "And they can't be you two?" She nodded at Tara and Emily since JJ was a married woman.

"You can round up a friend or two. Didn't you say you met some hippie girl in your music group that Spence might like? Bring her," JJ recommended. "And see, Spence is another great example of a good guy who is out there, in his thirties and unattached."

"Yeah, maybe I can bring her. But then Sam might hear about singles' night." She scoffed. "Please tell me that's not what we're calling it."

"No. We'll just ask some friends to come to a gathering and say that there will only be two couples there at most so they shouldn't feel awkward about attending alone. Leave it at that." Emily lifted a shoulder.

"So we are invited?" JJ grinned.

"I don't know, honey. I think the cost of admission for married couples should be at least four hot single dudes." Penelope clicked her tongue at her.

JJ crossed her arms. "Fine. I don't want to attend anyway."

"Matt probably has at least four hot friends," Tara argued.

"Well, tell him the same thing, but also tell him to let Kristy know they will be the only couple there. They might not find it that interesting after all." Penelope shrugged. "Whatever. Let's all just go if we want, and bring friends, and leave it at that."

"Great, I'll ask Dave if he would mind playing host, and also tell him we will try and find some age appropriate single ladies for him." Emily nodded. "Oh, wait, so we are telling the guys the truth about this then, right?"

"How else do we scam them into bringing friends over?" Penelope queried.

Tara and Emily exchanged glances, and Penelope frowned as she tried to sort out that thought process. JJ stood up from the desk. "I'll do it, and that will be my admission cost. I'll tell them that I decided to play matchmaker. It's all on me. I'm the one that wanted to do this. I want couples to hang out with, blah blah. They'll buy it. I will explain the parameters. They'll indulge the married lady with two kids that just wants to have some fun setting her friends up. I'm sure I could persuade Kristy into leaning into the idea too."

"You're not wrong." Emily smirked at Penelope.

"Okay. Fine. Alright. I'm in." Penelope rolled her eyes. "How did my complaint lead us here?"

"I don't know, but this should be a good time anyway." Tara winked at her and led the other two ladies towards the door.

"Actually, we needed to consult on that double homicide. PG, can you type it up for us? We'll round up the boys." Emily followed JJ and Tara out of the room. Penelope grabbed her tablet and followed them through the glass doors.

When they entered, they saw Luke and Matt picking up a few files from the floor. There was a box of paperclips that had been tipped over in between their desks, a phone off the hook with the cord dangling from Luke's desk, and a tipped over water bottle on Matt's.

"Are you boys serious? We left you alone for ten minutes!" Emily's incredulous face scanned the mess in front of her. The women at her sides were amused but also in disbelief. "What the hell happened?"

Luke tried to answer, "Uh- I - uh-"

Matt stacked the file folders he'd retrieved from the floor on his desk. "We were talking about a buddy of ours that was getting married soon. I tried to show Luke the post and almost dropped my cell, and he tried to catch it. Then we both sort of knocked some things over. Oops." Matt shrugged, but he gave them his sweet smile that was hard to ever get mad at.

The women scoffed. "Geez, who knew you two would get so worked up over a friend's social media post." JJ smirked. "However, it's funny you should mention such a thing. I wanted to do a get together."

Rossi and Spencer joined the group, standing behind Luke's desk. "We always have a get together. Unless you're getting married again, that seems to have very little to do with this." Rossi took a sip from his coffee cup.

"That's what I'm saying. Only two of us on this team are married. We should have a singles mixer. Sort of. Everyone bring some single friends, and we just have a no pressure gathering." JJ raised her eyes. "It'll be fun."

"And you'll be allowed to attend?" Rossi asked JJ.

"Matt and I and our spouses will be the exception to the rule," JJ countered.

Penelope sighed. "Actually, Jayge, Rossi is right. Is this a good idea? Em is sort of still seeing Marc, and Luke has a girlfriend. It's not like the majority of us are single anymore." She hadn't thought about that before they decided on this.

"But isn't that the point. We're supposed to bring single friends. So… what does it matter if all of us are single?" Luke questioned.

"Yeah, plus, Marc and I are… sort of not seeing each other except when we're in the same country, which is rare." Emily pouted her bottom lip, then shrugged.

"Okay. So it's settled then. Only single people at the party except those of us on the team and our partners, should they choose to attend. Otherwise just invite single friends, but don't make it weird. Just say it's a gathering for all of us generally, but mention that it won't be a couple-y thing. Problem solved." JJ nodded.

"Great. Now we have work to do." Emily led the way towards the conference room. "Oh, and Dave? Thanks for hosting the party next Saturday. What would we do without you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Everything in my life is still a shit show. The last chapter of Cash and last chapter of Manor will be out this week, then more Summer and a one shot at some point.

* * *

"Alvez, can you call Garcia? Ask her to run all of this guy's names. Maybe one of them is real." Emily handed Luke the multiple I.D. cards in her hands that were taken from their victim's body.

Luke cleared his throat. "Uh yeah, sure, Prentiss." He grabbed them from her and began thumbing through them with his gloves on. He pulled out his phone to start texting her the names, but he realized that would take too long. He shook his head, he picked up his cell and hit speed dial.

"Hey there, one of my many superheroes. What do you need?"

"Uh hey, I have a ton of names that our vic used. Can you check to see if one of them might actually be his?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"John Stamos?" Luke picked up the card to squint at it. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Penelope giggled. "He's an actor. I know you're not hip and cool now, but are you telling me you didn't even watch popular shows in the eighties?"

"Uh, I sort of did. Sometimes."

"Yeah. Sure. Next?"

"Gary Sandberg." Luke paused. "Hey, this singles' night thing, are we really just bringing friends and pretending that's not weird?"

"Yes," Penelope answered. "Next?"

"Oliver Parker. Really? Because I think it's a little weird to set each other up."

"You were trying to set Tara up. Next?"

"Benjamin Hollis. But that was one person, and I sort of had a friend in mind specifically for her. It would've been a blind date, just like I went on. But a whole party where the sole purpose is to try and socialize?"

"That's the point of most parties, Luke. Next?"

"Jerry Harris. Okay, but it's an event that we are thinking about and planning ahead of time. And do you really want to meet your future husband at Rossi's house and know that the guy was there just because one of us scammed him into coming?"

"Scammed them into coming?" Penelope scoffed in disgust. "Next?"

"Leon Jameson. Scam is the wrong word. I'm just saying, we are all telling our single friends to come over for a fun night, but really the motive is to set them up."

"Why does that matter? No one has to flirt with anyone they don't want to. It's not a requirement; it's just an opportunity. Next?"

"Peter Parker. Well, that's not it." Luke tossed the card back to the pile. "Okay, I guess that's alright. I just didn't think you'd be interested in finding a date because a friend thought maybe you should meet someone that you never knew about before."

"Like a blind date that started your current relationship? Peter Parker is your guy. His parents were Jon and Lucy Parker. He was married to a woman named Lauren Johnson. Okay. Thanks. Bye." Penelope hung up before Luke could say anything else.

He pulled the phone away from his face and looked at it. He shook his head. He set his phone down and then stared at the pile he'd created. "Crap."

….

"Aren't you all glad you made it back in time for this shindig and didn't have to cancel?" Kristy smiled as she helped JJ spoon salsa into a bowl.

"Ecstatic," Luke said dryly as he opened another jar to hand to Kristy.

"You're fun." Kristy smirked at JJ as she tried to keep from laughing.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Just, doubting this is how we need to spend our Saturday night."

"Isn't this kinda how y'all spend your nights off anyway? If it's not, JJ has been deceivin' me for years." Will smirked at him.

Rossi held up his wine glass. "As far as I know, we have all been out drinking together too much. And if we haven't, then that means I've been drinking much more, _alone."_

The group chuckled at him. "Yeah, c'mon Luke. Even I'm not that drab about it." Spencer smiled as he picked up the licorice that Penelope gave to him.

"Yeah, you're not even going to have to mingle. Your date will be here," Emily added. "It's the rest of us that are going to have to impress people."

"I hope your friends are a little happier about this, considering that is partially why this idea came up in the first place." Tara frowned at him.

"I thought it was JJ's idea?" Luke asked as he opened another jar to hand to the woman in question.

"Yes. But you offered to set Tara up which is something that made this bigger idea come to fruition." JJ spooned some more dip into another bowl.

"C'mon, this is a little odd. Isn't it?" Matt questioned. "What if one of our friends hits it off with one of you? Then you're dating; then you break up. Could be awkward."

"It's wine and chips from the dollar store. I think we can hold off on the bad breakup worries." Rossi raised an eyebrow at him, and Matt nodded.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Penelope hopped off her stool. "Someone who isn't cranky should greet the guests."

….

An hour later the group was spread across the backyard. The various people there were in groups, talking and laughing. Luke made his way back over to the married couples, who had mostly stayed together on the patio as they observed their friends meet each other. "Are we almost done?" Luke questioned as he poured more whiskey into his glass.

"Isn't Lisa going to be here soon?" Will asked.

"Yeah. But the rest of this," he gestured around. "Isn't it enough?"

JJ frowned and glanced to the other three people around her. "Uh, it's not even ten on a Saturday night. I'd bet that we aren't going to be packing up for a little while."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Why don't you go call Lisa and see if she'll be here soon?" Matt suggested.

Luke took a swig of his drink and then set it down to go inside for privacy.

"Why is he so against this? He doesn't even have to do anything. And his friends seem to be having a good time." JJ gestured to where a few of Luke's friends were talking to a group that included Tara, Penelope, and Spencer.

"I don't think he's the type to set anyone up. Not really. He's not the social butterfly, to say the least. I'm sure he feels responsible for any connections that might happen," Matt explained.

"Yeah, guess so," JJ acquiesced. "Oh, look at that. Is Penelope fixing that guy's phone? That's interesting."

"Fixin' it so she can put her number in it." Will chuckled.

"So, success?" Kristy smiled at them.

"Maybe." JJ nodded. "Alright. We should stop staring. It might help."

….

"Did everyone have fun?" Emily asked as she brought in glasses to set in the kitchen sink. Some of them were cleaning up and doing dishes as the others put food away.

"Yeah. Wasn't bad." Spencer smiled.

"Yeah, Boy Wonder liked Olivia." Penelope fluffed his hair.

"That's good. So a successful night then?" Rossi nodded. "I saw everyone exchange at least one number. Good work, everyone."

"Everyone? As in all the guests?" Luke asked.

"I meant everyone on our team, but, yes, most of the guests too," Rossi clarified.

Matt crossed his arms. "Everyone just take it slow. It's just numbers."

"I'm sure Luke is just sad that Lisa couldn't make it." Emily pouted at him.

Luke smiled at her. "No. She had to work. We all know how it is to be called away last minute."

"I think we all had fun. And you all had fun gossiping about who we were talking to. So I'd say it was an all over win," Tara said.

"Great, so we can all go on and never report back about anything," Penelope happily chirped.

"Nuh uh. We get all the reports about any dates, kisses, or… other dates." JJ smirked.

"Uh, no." Emily frowned at her.

"We need something," JJ protested.

"Fine. How about we agree to report if we go on a second date. But no details," Emily suggested.

"Yeah, it might be weird to explain details to you about any of your own friends," Tara agreed.

"Please, don't." Matt and Luke said simultaneously which made the group laugh.

"Okay then, Kids. I am leaving. I have nothing to report other than I have to make sure Sam actually left my spare key in my mailbox and isn't sitting in my house waiting to give it to me in person." Penelope put her purse over her shoulder.

Emily scoffed. "Really? He wouldn't do that."

"I'd agree with you except he already has. The first time I broke up with him. Except that time he left the key. Then he realized he forgot to leave my clarinet case, so he asked my super to let him back in. The super recognized him and was happy to do so. But when he went to get the spare key to let him in, he checked the paperwork and asked if he was Derek or Kevin. Since Sam was neither, he decided to wait in my apartment until I got home to ask why he was never on the rental agreement as a contact, a point I didn't think was relevant if we weren't seeing each other. Then he pointed out that I was obviously also no longer seeing Kevin, to which I stupidly pointed out that I actually still saw him often enough. So, honestly, who knows what happened this time. I changed the contact info to one of my brothers, JJ, and also the guy I went out with right after Sam the first time. So I could be fighting with him about a whole different person neither of us remembers that well." She brought her two fingers up to her forehead. "Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen." She lazily saluted them and then spun around to make her way out.

JJ laughed. "Remember when Kevin tried to make her jealous by bringing another girl around after she broke up with him, and all she did was get super annoyed and wish the girl luck?"

"Or when that ex of hers was almost our unsub only to be the unsub's scapegoat, but not before spying on her and Derek," Spencer reminded. "That was funny. He was so jealous."

"I just really enjoyed that guy from counter terrorism that she used to see occasionally but who always used to ask her to come out with us, and she would say no, so he would show up and pretend his unit just somehow ended up there at the same time." Emily bopped her head. "He was funny."

"I thought the one she dated from Derek's softball league was the best one. Now that guy was funny. And he helped win a lot of games," Will added.

"Yeah. Between him and Derek, it was unlikely our team could lose," Spencer remarked. "He had more home runs than Derek by the end of the season."

"Until she broke up with him," Tara reminded. "Remember him being all mopey? And he didn't even play the last game since she was going to be there."

"Poor bastard. He never had a real shot. He was sort of one of those jock types - the kind she probably hated in high school. She was never going to assume that was more than just for fun." Rossi smirked. "I have to say, she has had the best stories out of all of us this past decade. Even when no one on the team was married, the kitten always had a steady boyfriend or a man who thought he'd become one."

"That's true. Even when Hotch got divorced, and literally no one even had a date, she always had someone," Emily agreed. "Yeah, hey, how come she was the one complaining? It's clear the rest of us are the tragedies. Even you two," Emily pointed at Will and JJ. "It took you so long to get your shit together. But even when you pretended you weren't dating, she had a man."

"So Penelope was complaining?" Matt questioned.

Tara rolled her eyes. "Sort of. Not exactly."

"Sam trying to propose again?" Rossi queried. "Didn't learn that lesson from Kevin?" he chuckled. "As I said, poor bastards, all of them."

"Why has she had so many proposals, and I have had none? What did I do?" Emily asked.

"I've only been proposed to once, and it wasn't great," Tara explained. "And no one else even thought of it. I'm sure of that so..." She shrugged.

"Yeah, it was just Will for me. No one else attempted to tie me down either," JJ added.

"I thought someone else was going to propose. He did not. He broke up with me," Kristy mentioned.

"How many proposals has Garcia avoided?" Spencer asked.

"I bet _she_ doesn't even know." Rossi chuckled. "But if she was complaining about being single, it sounds like maybe she won't turn down the next one?"

"I think what she's looking for is different now." JJ shrugged. "So I'd say that's a real possibility."

"Maybe we'll all get proposed to, and we can have a group wedding in Dave's backyard, and he'll let us have the good wine instead of the okay wine." Emily smirked at him.

"Like I'd waste my expensive wine on you hooligans. Not a chance."

* * *

Thanks to all of you who review, follow, and fav, it of course is lovely to see.

Thanks to Thomais, Silkia, and Amanda for reading through my various works, or for telling me ideas are good, or encouraging my smutty mind, all of that is wonderful.


	3. Chapter 3

So behind on updating any of my stories or anything. I know. Life is just a huge mess for me right now. But thanks for the favs reviews, and follows, they are a highlight when everything else is going to hell. I hope I don't hate tonight's episode. Can something go right please? I'll try and update Summer tomorrow or at least soon. And I have another one shot too.

* * *

"Hey, kids. How's it going?" Penelope entered the conference room. "Wait, we have a case? I wasn't told we had a case."

"No. We all just happened to gather because Spencer was reporting on his second date." JJ raised her eyebrows.

"Oooh oooh! Spill." Penelope flicked her wrist at him. Then she took a seat and rolled it up to the table to giddily resting her elbows on it.

"Uh, we had a second date."

"That's it?" Tara frowned.

"Wasn't that the agreement? I told you I had the date," Spencer protested.

"Yeah, alright. I had a second date too." Tara shrugged. "And that's all I want to say."

"I had two first dates. Is that what I'm supposed to tell you?" Emily questioned and then shrugged.

"I am going on my third first date." Rossi tilted his head. "I've not changed as much as I thought I had." The group chuckled at him.

"Garcia?" Matt questioned.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I had a second date." She smiled simply.

"Had?" Luke asked.

Penelope cleared her throat. "Yeah, last week."

"The party was ten days ago." Luke frowned at her.

"Yeah, and my first date was the day after, and I had a second date last week."

"And that's it?" Matt asked.

"Uh, no. I'm going out again tonight."

"So third date?" Tara smiled widely.

"Uh, well, fifth. If we're counting." Penelope flicked her wrist.

"Fifth? That's a date every two days." Luke frowned at her.

"So you passed math class then?" Penelope asked dryly. "Yeah, fifth date. What about it?"

"With who?" Matt asked.

"Well, if no one knows whose friend it was, I'm not telling. I'm sure whomever's friend will tell them in due time." Penelope lifted a shoulder at them.

"So… you plan on giving something to tell?" JJ asked.

"Guess we'll see."

….

"So you're going to bring Olivia on Friday?" Luke asked Spencer.

"Yeah. She said she'd be happy to come and meet all of you again." Spencer smiled at his team.

"At least somebody got something out of that night. I didn't know ghosting was a real thing. We're adults!" Emily shook her head.

"Yeah, I've sort of spoken to my date a few times, but that's it." Tara shrugged. "Not holding my breath."

"I already wore out my welcome," Rossi added.

"Still, one success story isn't bad." Matt nodded.

"Two," JJ corrected. "Garcia is seeing somebody. We still don't know who."

Luke scoffed. "Whose friend would do that? If we inadvertently set them up, shouldn't we be given the courtesy to know?"

"You brought five friends to the party. Can't you narrow it down if it's one of yours?" Spencer asked him.

"Not really. They're my buddies, but I don't call them to check in all the time, so it's not like I'd know they were seeing anyone anyway."

"And Matt brought four guys. Dave brought two. Will and JJ brought two. I brought one," Tara reminded. "Yeah, it's easier to narrow down the ladies, and, since Spencer is only dating one, and Rossi is basically dating the rest of them-" She chuckled.

"Hey, hey, some of those random singles found _each other_ , so leave me out of it." Rossi held up his coffee cup. "I'll be happy to tell any of you which ladies I took out and how it didn't pan out, but that I also didn't do anything to make anyone want to punch me."

"I think we're okay. Thanks, Dave." Emily shook her head.

Penelope walked into the room and took her seat. "What's going on?"

"Where is that bracelet from?" Luke stared at her wrist.

"Oh," Penelope held up her hand. "My boyfriend."

"Definitely two success stories." JJ excitedly scooted closer to the table. "Tell us! Please!"

Penelope shook her head. "I thought we weren't supposed to."

"At first maybe, but at this point it's ridiculous. We should know who your boyfriend is," Emily answered.

"Ooh. Bring him to O'keefe's on Friday," Spencer suggested.

"I can ask," she agreed.

"That's settled then. We get to figure out mystery man, and we also get to ask him where his fantastic taste in jewelry came from." Tara smirked.

"I know." Penelope held up her wrist again. "It's perfect."

….

"Why are we here so early?" Luke scowled at Matt.

"Because you're jumpy and fidgety, and you needed a drink?"

"Hilarious," Luke muttered.

"Dude, you need to calm down. You are going to have to do a better job hiding-"

"Honey, should one of us stay sober so we can drive home?" Kristy scooted into the booth next to her husband.

"No. We'll just take a cab and come back in the morning for our car." Matt kissed her briefly.

"Oh good, there you guys are." Emily and Tara joined them. "I want alcohol," Emily said as she took off her coat and tossed it in the booth before she went to the bar. Rossi had followed them in and smirked as he moved to follow her.

Will and JJ walked in with Spencer and Olivia. "Guys, this is Olivia for those of you that only met her briefly." Spencer smiled at her.

Olivia shyly smiled back. She raised a hand. "Hi everyone. Nice to see you again."

Rossi and Emily returned with drinks for themselves and one for Tara. Will got up to get JJ and himself a drink.

Spencer and Olivia took a seat next to each other at the head of the table.

When Will returned, he slid into his chair. "Where's Penelope?"

"She should be here." JJ turned around. "See, there she is." She waved at her.

"Hey, all. I had a hard time figuring out which shoes to change into. My bad." She tossed her purse and coat on the booth.

"Hey, hey, where's this famous boyfriend we all want to meet?" Rossi asked.

"Oh, he's going to try and make it, but he got caught up with something," Penelope chirped at them.

"Luke, where is Lisa?" Spencer asked.

"Uh, work." Luke cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go get a drink. Anyone need anything?" Penelope offered. She waited for everyone to decline and then went off towards the bar.

"Anyone else going to be very disappointed if we don't meet this guy tonight?" Tara asked.

"Big time," Emily answered.

"Well, it's not like it's been long. Might not be that important," Luke countered.

"You saw the jewelry right? Jewelry always makes it important," JJ countered.

"Sure but-" Luke stopped speaking when he saw the man approaching. "Larson?"

The man approached the table and nodded at Luke. "Alvez," he greeted him and then smiled at everyone else.

"Oh, I remember meeting you," Tara acknowledged him. "I didn't realize it was you. I thought it was the guy who was talking to her about computer applications degrees for thirty minutes."

"Ah, yeah, he kept calling her. It was actually really annoying." The man smiled at Tara who smiled back.

Penelope came up to the table and set her drink down. "Okay, so you've met everyone then?"

"We know he's Larson, and we know that's Alvez. That's it." Emily pointed between the two men.

"Oh right. For the rest of you, this is Danny." Penelope had woven her arm through his and moved it lightly indicating the man next to her.

"Well, Danny. Good work." Rossi gave the man a small salute.

"Uh, thank you."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Take a seat." They both sat next to each other, and she placed her arm across his lap to latch onto his hand on his other side. "So, Olivia and Spencer, are you two together?"

Olivia turned a light shade of pink, and Spencer smiled embarrassingly. "Yes," Spencer answered to a round of hoots and hollers.

"And we should assume that you two are - well, I guess we know you are." Matt gave Penelope a smile.

Penelope nodded. "For seven weeks now, it's been official."

"The party was nine weeks ago." Luke narrowed his gaze at her.

"Correct again with your math, Alvez. You're getting good in your old age," Penelope teased.

"That worked out well for you two then." Will smiled at the new couple.

"Really well. Not even quite sure how. Especially since she did manage the time to go on two other dates that first week," Danny explained.

"You did?" Luke questioned.

"Oh my god! Don't worry, Luke. Your friend knew about it. I'm not a jerk. I just accepted those dates, that first night, before we went on our first one. Then we did, and I knew I could probably cancel, but it also seemed presumptuous to do so. I never went out with either of them again." Penelope shook her head at Luke as he glared at her.

"So it's a good thing you made sure to be the most charming of the three choices that week." Rossi nodded at the man.

"This is true." Danny nodded back.

"So you know Alvez from the Army or FBI?" Tara questioned.

"Both. Sort of. We have a lot of the same army buddies, but we were never in a unit together. And I do work in white collar, which is a leap for me, but I also can easily fit into a mold when we need someone to maybe blend a little more when we do undercover ops." Danny smiled at her as well.

"Oh, gotcha. So that's why you've managed to see each other so much. He's a two floor elevator ride away." JJ smirked.

"It's helped, yes," Penelope acknowledged. "When you all left for Houston a few weeks ago and I had to stay up and wait for the report, he graciously came to stay with me until the wee hours of the night." Penelope rested her head on his shoulder.

"Wow, that is really good for you two then. Why didn't you bring this kid around before, Alvez?" Rossi turned his smirk to Luke.

"We aren't close friends or anything. He's just one of my group of friends," Luke answered without intonation.

"Okay, so what was the inspiration for the bracelet?" Kristy asked excitedly.

"Sorry, it's not a fantastic story. We were in Rehoboth Beach for a wedding a few weeks ago, and she saw it at the store. She claimed it matched her dress, but that was all she said. So when she was getting ready for the ceremony the next day, I snuck out and got it for her." He shyly smiled when he heard all the women, sans Penelope, aww in unison.

"That sounds like a decent story to me." Spencer smiled at the man, and Danny smiled back as he shrugged in acknowledgment.

"You went out of town for a wedding last month when you had only known each other for weeks?" Luke questioned with annoyance.

"Uh, yeah, dude. I can't change when the wedding was." Danny chuckled at him.

"Yeah, that's not what I meant." Luke glared at him.

"Right, so, that must've been a good time though?" Matt questioned. "Rehoboth Beach is nice."

"It is. It was a little crowded since all the kids were out of school, but we only stayed there for two days and on the way back we stayed in a small town that was charming but thankfully quiet," Danny answered.

"So you're just staying out for a night without reason?" Luke asked.

Penelope narrowed her eyes in question. "Uh, the reason was we wanted to have a private night that wasn't spent in a hotel with fifty other wedding guests just down the hall."

Luke cleared his throat. "Yeah, okay." He settled back in his seat.

"Alright, so this means we will be seeing more of both of you." Emily nodded at Olivia and then at Danny.

"Olivia is going to come to our game night next month," Spencer informed them.

"Awesome. Does that mean that there can be new partners so that some of us can win sometimes?" Tara asked.

"I think this just means that Olivia gets to win because Spencer will want to be on her team now." Emily chuckled.

"And you, Danny?" Rossi asked.

"Sure. As long as I don't have work, I can be there."

Rossi raised his glass to him. "Great. Look forward to seeing if you can beat all of us."


	4. Chapter 4

Everything is a mess. I am behind. My bad.

* * *

"Okay, so the teams are Tara and Emily, Spencer and Olivia, Matt and JJ, Kristy and Will, me and Danny, Rossi and Luke. This should be interesting." Penelope set the notepad down on the coffee table.

"Yes, this is definitely going to be fun, and we don't have an odd man out anymore. Unless of course, Lisa shows up. But if she does, don't worry. I volunteer to be scorekeeper and referee." Rossi nodded at Luke.

"She probably won't get off work on time. No need to worry." Luke took a sip of his beer.

"In that case, maybe we should all switch up the pairings as we go along. The married couples already do it." Rossi suggested.

"True, but we don't mind a break." JJ nudged her husband with her shoulder. "But these two couples probably can't get enough of each other."

"Of course, but we should keep it that way. We'll do a rotation so each of us gets at least a couple of partners. I'll keep tabs," Rossi offered. "Next game, we'll move around."

"Sure, no problem. So we can do the guessing first since we know we have very little chance of winning against Spencer, and Olivia deserves a good premiere game." Penelope grabbed a few of the jars and plastic tubs that she asked one of the IT guys to put various things in earlier. "So it's pretty straightforward. We have to guess how many of each thing is in each container. The team with the closest guesses on each wins."

"Oh, wait! How are we going to know who wins at the end of the night?" Kristy asked.

"I was thinking we score individually. We play as partners, but each person gets a point for each time they win in a partnership. The person at the end with the most points wins," Rossi suggested.

"That works. Let's start," Emily instructed as they all began to get up, and pick up the jars, and turn them around, and inspect them, as they attempted to guess how many of each were in the containers.

Luke watched Penelope and Danny picking up a jar full of jelly beans. He glared when he saw Danny lean in to kiss her when they were playfully fighting over their marker to write their guess. Matt elbowed Luke, who immediately averted his gaze to the plastic tub in his hands. Rossi smirked at Matt, whose eyes widened like a kid stealing the last cookie. But then he saw Rossi's laughing eyes, and he shook his head in resignation as he nodded towards Luke, who was scrutinizing the tub of chocolate candies so intently but somehow didn't seem to be paying any attention to them at all. Rossi raised his eyebrows and then patted his shirt pocket where he had a notepad for scorekeeping and for partner changes, indicating he had a plan of some kind.

Matt silently chuckled. JJ was standing beside him, and she leaned in to whisper to him, "What was that?"

Matt sighed and then whispered back, "I'm not sure you want to know. It might be complicated, and maybe you don't want to put yourself in that position. I sort of don't want to be." He shrugged, "But I'll tell you if you want to know. I think the cat is going to be out of the bag soon no matter what I do."

JJ turned to him again, as she squinted her eyes, trying to decipher what he meant. Then she spoke generally to the group. "Matt and I will go grab the whiteboards and markers." The two people made their way to the dining room where they had stacked some of their supplies, alongside the snacks for the night. "Spill," JJ instructed.

"Okay, from the middle, Luke heard you girls talking about singles' night."

"Okay, why does that matter? It was a joint collaboration, I admit."

"Yeah, but he apparently heard the whole conversation. From Garcia finding a ring, to Garcia having an infatuation with him that apparently ended a while back." Matt raised his eyes as JJ opened her mouth wide in acknowledgment. "Yeah. So he heard all of that. And when you all came back towards our desks, he got flustered and was trying to hang up his desk phone, and the cord knocked over his water bottle that he hadn't put the cap on yet, since he didn't finish taking the sip he was going to take when he got enamored by the conversation. Then he knocked over the files when he went to catch the water bottle. And, chaos."

"But how?" JJ shook her head.

"He buzzed Garcia's phone and apparently did so right before you ladies walked in the room because he heard voices and wasn't sure at first that he was still on the line. Then he heard the ring talk and apparently couldn't help but eavesdrop."

"Holy hell. So is that why he was being so weird? Even from the beginning?"

"Yes. I didn't know that's what it was until after we agreed to the party. All he said before you girls walked back in was to cover for him, and he'd explain later. By the time he explained, we'd all agreed on the party, but of course then I started to feel bad."

"Wait. Why would you feel bad?"

Matt ran his hand over his forehead. "He used to like Garcia too, but he didn't think it was a good idea. Nor did he think she'd be open to dating in the same unit. He knew it was against the rules, and also, you have to admit, it would be awkward for him to ask her out and then having a bad date about which nothing can be done. So early on, he swept the idea under the rug, and that's it."

"Okay, but he has a girlfriend, and he had to assume Penelope would be dating. You can't claim something you never claimed."

Matt nodded. "It's not like he liked that she dated, but he knew they both would. It's inevitable. But I don't think he thought he would be the one setting her up." Matt watched JJ sigh. "More than that, he heard her say that as soon as she met Lisa, she was over him, never to return. I think that hurt his feelings."

"Yeah, she did sort of just, stop. It was like she felt betrayed almost, and she didn't want to feel that way. So she sort of realized that she didn't need to like him. Sometimes other people make us jealous, but I think it just sort of made her apathetic. He wanted to date an all around cookie cutter catch, and that made her sort of not find him as interesting. Garcia is a break the mold kind of girl. Lisa is just fine, but I think Penelope figured she wasn't the type to date the same people as a person like Lisa. They are two very different women who require two very different things from a partner, and Luke became less intriguing because he was so transparent." JJ scrunched her face as she contemplated if that was the right way to say it.

"Yeah, I get it. Lisa is very house with a fence and two kids. But also career enough to have a nanny and housekeeper. Very modern suburban."

"Right, and Penelope is musical festival on the weekend, theatre on Wednesday night, and pursuing whatever makes her happy, which for her probably isn't kids and a nanny. If Luke was like Lisa, then he sort of lost his luster as an adventurous partner."

"Okay, well, I get it. I don't think Luke does. And I can tell you, if Lisa embodies what he wanted, then it still wasn't Lisa who was going to give it to him because they broke up," Matt explained.

JJ threw her head back. "Are you serious? When?"

"That week of the party. He said it was already not feeling right for a while. It was chugging along just like it was supposed to be. Nothing wrong. She has a drawer. They go out for brunch. They hang out with friends and make plans. Nothing was wrong. But it wasn't right. Maybe because-"

"He doesn't want cookie cutter either?" JJ sighed. "Shit. And now she is dating an acquaintance of his who he inadvertently and begrudgingly facilitated her meeting." JJ shook her head. "But Matt, she does seem happy."

"I get it. She does. And it's no one's fault. There's no action to take. He just has to watch it, and it's not pleasant. But it is what it is."

"So he doesn't want people to know he broke up with Lisa?"

"No. For no other reason than he has to explain himself. And while it genuinely just wasn't going to work long term, part of him seeing that was probably knowing that Penelope wanted him just as much as he wanted her."

JJ tipped her head. "Not to be mean, but he can watch this. She had to watch him with Lisa. I know that she got over her feelings quickly, but I'm sure the first few times weren't pleasant."

"Yeah. Seems like that might just be how it goes for now." Matt shrugged. "We better get these boards before someone thinks _we_ started to like each other." JJ chuckled and grabbed the second stack so she could follow Matt back towards their even more interesting game night.

….

"Last game of the night, everyone. Hold on to your hats because it's a doozie." Rossi winked at them. "We're doing likes and dislikes."

"Oh no! Please tell me we have categories this time because, last time we tried this, it was a disaster." Emily was ready to protest the game before it even began.

"No worries. I made some amendments to it. It will be a little less messy this time. We each answer individually but then we choose as partners who's who. But, since we all know each other's handwriting, I was wondering if our tech genius would mind typing this up for all of us. She can still submit hers, but she can't guess. So since Luke is your partner for this one, he's got a disadvantage. Tough breaks, kid. But as far as the rest of us, I do have categories, and, instead of random likes, we are going to have options for each question. We choose one of those, so that we don't have to embarrass ourselves relentlessly."

"Okay, I guess write your stuff up _with your nam_ e and I will make it anonymous." Penelope picked up her tablet to open a slideshow so she could get started. She listened to Rossi ask the questions and wrote her answers. When everyone was done, they stacked their papers on the table.

"Alright, everyone, let's have some snacks while our Penelope here makes this anonymous for us." Ross instructed as he picked up the answers. "Oh wait, Alvez since you sort of have a disadvantage anyway and neither of you can win even if you win this game, why don't you help her anonymize them so that we don't assume based on her order preference either."

"Sure." Luke nodded and took the stack of papers from his hand.

Danny came over to kiss Penelope quickly. Then he followed the rest of the group into the dining room. Penelope held out her hand. "Okay, let me have them."

"No." Luke shook his head. "I should tell them to you randomly and assign them numbers so that you don't make JJ's all baby blue because it's her favorite color."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Well, I won't now."

"I think that's the point." He shuffled the papers in his hands, so they weren't in the order they were originally stacked in. Then he took a pen and numbered them from top to bottom. "Okay, number one-"

"Wait! I forgot the questions. I should type those at the top so we all remember the options when we're trying to decipher who's who."

Luke sighed and picked up the notepad Rossi left. "Question one was _Who do you prefer? Superman, Batman, Thor, or Captain America._ Two was _Choose a fifth date activity: Bowling, hiking, movies, or sex."_

Penelope laughed. "That went somewhere quick. I guess that's why he said fifth date and not first."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. Question three was _Where do you retire? Florida, Mexico, any small town, USA, or, why would I retire?_ " Luke watched her type. Then he furrowed his brow. "These are odd. Where do you think he found this list?"

"I taught him to google. I'm sure it's the first one that popped up from someone's blog or something." Penelope gestured for him to continue.

"Four: _what is most important in a friend: loyalty, bravery, humor, or support._ Five: _What is the best reason for breaking the rules? I don't break rules, when necessary, for love, or I don't need a reason._ " Luke cleared his throat when he finished. "Okay, six: _where would you honeymoon if money wasn't an issue? Month long backpacking through Europe, safari in Africa, a vacation to any resort with free drinks, or Bora Bora in a glass suite_. And seven: _If you had a chance to turn back time to fix one thing without it hurting anyone, would you change your high school persona, erase your most embarrassing moment, kiss someone you should've kissed, or invest in Facebook_?"

Penelope continued typing. Then she hit a few more buttons. "Okay, so I laid out twelve sheets, I will just type in each answer as you recite them." Luke recited off each list until the very last one when Penelope shook her head. "You gave me that one already."

"No, I didn't. It's number twelve."

"But it's the same as number four."

Luke dug through the pile and found number four. Then he looked back at number twelve. "Well, that's because they are the exact same answers."

Penelope scrunched her nose. "Oh! Is one of them Danny?" she asked excitedly.

"You're not supposed to know."

"But I finished typing, and we made it random. I can know now."

"Don't you want to guess, just for fun?"

"No. I'm impatient."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Then just guess for me then."

Penelope pouted at him, but she decided that it was okay because the most she had to wait was the time it took to say eleven names. "Danny?" She watched Luke shake his head. Then she stared at the questions again. "Hmm… Tara?" He shook his head again. "Well, that doesn't… I don't know who else would… Olivia?" She was the only one Penelope didn't know as well, and maybe that's why she would choose these answers. Luke shook his head. "I… Emily?"

"Nope." Luke smirked at her. "You really don't-"

"Oh! Kristy." Penelope smiled excitedly.

"No. You are really not sure?"

Penelope shook her head and stared at her screen in confusion. She couldn't see any of them having the same answers as her. She was a very different sort of person. "Well, it's not Rossi, not Spencer. Neither of them would enjoy my take on vacations. I _know_ Matt's opinion on superheroes. Will would - Wait! Is it you?"

Luke scoffed. "Yeah. Surprise. Geez, what did you think I could never be as cool as you?"

Penelope bopped her head. "Sort of." Luke scowled at her. "Okay, okay. Explain."

"You have to too." He waited for her nod. "Captain America because he was a regular Army guy. He still has the same integrity, but he can stand up for what he believes, even if that means bending a few rules to get it done."

Penelope pursed her lips, "My explanation is essentially the same. Although Thor is so pretty. But maybe that's just Chris Hemsworth and not _Thor._ "

Luke rolled his eyes. "Number two, I have no idea why everyone didn't choose sex."

"Me either. Maybe fifth date is too soon for them? Or maybe they'd rather bowl and then have sex afterwards?" She shrugged. "Three?"

"Mexico, obviously, or something like it. Not trying to live in a small town and wilt away. _Not ever_ living in Florida, and you can't make me. And while I enjoy my work, I also want to enjoy my life."

Penelope nodded. "Same. I want to have even more experiences when I retire, not wait to die. And I don't want to work myself to death, either." Penelope shook her head. "But you chose supportive? I thought most people would choose loyalty. I just always felt out of touch with people. Sort of like I'm in the way. Even with family sometimes or in this family, when some of them rush home to someone, and I have Thanksgiving with Sergio."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, same. I value all of those things, but, if someone is always there for you, that is already loyal, but loyal just means they have integrity. Support means they have a connection to you. Maybe it's born out of loyalty, but it's something I've missed at times" He shrugged.

"But five? You didn't choose _when necessary_? That seems like what you do now."

"Yes, true. But, if I lost my job over threatening someone to help me keep Spencer safe, I wouldn't regret it, but I also would wonder if there was another way I could've done it. But, if I did it for love, who cares? Who cares what happens? There is never another way to fix that."

Penelope nodded with a wistful smile. "Yeah, I have broken rules when I needed to. Some I regret. Some were for our family, so that's love too, but, for real soul-consuming love, I'd break any rule I had to." She shrugged. "But there is no way we agree on six. No way! You don't want to strap a bag on your back or see the wild animals in Africa?"

"Of course, I'd love to safari there, but, on a honeymoon, no. Backpacking? I'm just not a kid anymore. I'd travel to Europe, but not without some indulgence. I certainly don't care about free cocktails just anywhere. Bora Bora is supposed to be extremely beautiful and serene, and I've seen those glass suites over the water. I want to go there and just relax for once, have tons of sex and not think about all the things in the world that go wrong every day. I don't need to be waited on. I just want to be left alone with the person I love, in a private bungalow with a nice view."

Penelope narrowed her eyes at him. Then she giggled. "Wow! Since when do you make so much sense?"

"Maybe I always did."

"Mmm, I don't think that's it."

Luke chuckled. "Okay, and number seven?"

Penelope averted her gaze to the keys just near her fingers. "I don't care about high school. I can't remember most of the mean girls anymore, so it would be a waste. While I'd love to erase all embarrassing moments, I can't say that would change my life a whole lot, except making me worry about one less irrelevant thing. I actually am not a fan of social media. I feel like it's corrupted my sacred online space as it used to be in the good old days. But, I don't think I would regret - kissing someone you wanted to kiss but were too afraid to, or too - wouldn't it be nice to know? Or at least, to just have a nice kiss?"

Luke nodded his head slowly as he restacked the papers. "That it would." He cleared his throat. "Would you - are you - have you learned that lesson?"

Penelope started typing again to set up the slideshow. "Uh, I… honestly don't know. I can't imagine I became braver so quickly. Okay, finished." She hit enter. "We can tell them all to come back in here now."

"Right. I will go get them." Luke walked to the dining room to retrieve everybody as Penelope set her tablet up on the main table and adjusted the brightness so everyone could see.

As they all situated on the chairs, Rossi instructed them again. "So how about first to call out the correct name so we don't have to write everything down, and, hey, maybe that gives us all a chance to win, since we can get a point for each one correct."

"Hey, thanks. I could've turned this thing around." Luke scoffed.

"Tough break, kid." Rossi shrugged.

"And if it's your own, stay quiet," Penelope instructed.

"What if we have the same answers as someone else?" Will asked.

"That won't be a problem," Luke told them.

Penelope started the slides, and Luke kept tally of who guessed correctly first. When they got to the last slide, they knew it had to be his, but Rossi smirked. "I thought you said there weren't two that were the same?"

"No, I said it wouldn't be a problem. The two of us weren't guessing, and we are the only ones who had identical answers. Plus, it's the last slide, so you all know anyway at this point," Luke told him.

"You two had identical answers?" Tara questioned.

"Hey, no one was more shocked than me." Penelope flicked her wrists as she moved to turn off her tablet.

"Wow, that's interesting," Danny said plainly.

"Yeah, I thought there was no way you two could agree on a destination. You can't even agree on which booth to save at the bar," Kristy stated.

Rossi stood up to refill his glass. "I like how Danny and I agree on the investment. I can't remember high school, I've never been embarrassed, and, arguably, I have already kissed many people I shouldn't have."

Danny put his arm on the couch behind where Penelope took a seat next to him. "Same on the first two. But as far as the kissing thing, if it didn't happen, it wasn't supposed to. If someone doesn't immediately pursue what they want, they must not have wanted it. Investing is the logical option."

Penelope furrowed her brow at him, but JJ spoke, "So, there is no such thing as unrequited love to you?"

"Not really. I mean it wasn't love if it didn't happen. I think any pining they do in movies is just a projection of a fantasy. Real life, things happen the way they're supposed to," he answered her.

"So, if everything happens how it is supposed to, how do you explain divorces and kids that have to get divided up in legal documents?" Matt asked casually.

"Mistakes." Danny shrugged. "Not saying people don't make the wrong choice. Things happen that aren't supposed to, definitely. But if things _don't happen,_ then that means they weren't meant to. There are no real missed opportunities. You'd have it if you wanted it. That's how I see it."

Penelope was staring at the couch beneath her, but she said nothing because she understood the logic, but she still thought it was bullshit. If that were true, then all the romances that were spoken about in so many books and movies and poems weren't actually love. They were fantasies of people that didn't know better, and that sounded bogus. There were people who died alone. Maybe it was because they wanted to, or maybe it was because they missed out, and their soulmate married the wrong person. Maybe it never got fixed, but it doesn't mean that what was supposed to happen, happened. She realized she missed part of the conversation. They were now animatedly debating the superhero question.

"Okay, maybe we should call it a night. I want to make sure the babysitter gets home early enough," JJ explained.

"Until next time, losers." Emily clicked her tongue at them.

Penelope was following Danny out to his car. "Hey, you don't mind if I drop you off, do you? I have to work in the morning. My boss just emailed me about a lead," Danny asked Penelope as they walked down Rossi's walkway.

"No, not at all."

Luke was behind them. "Uh, I live in her direction. If you would rather I just take her." He adjusted his jacket as he spoke.

Danny turned around. "Oh sure. That works. I live in the other direction." He nodded at him. "Sorry, Babe. I will come stay tomorrow night. At least my overnight stuff is already there." He leaned down to kiss Penelope, and Penelope got up on her toes to reach him more fully. Danny's hands came to her face and held her there while her hands came to each side of his jacket to hold on.

Luke watched for a second and then realized this wasn't ending, so he walked to his car and got in to wait for her. After a full three minutes, she got in and put her seatbelt over herself. "Gee, couldn't open the door for me?" She was joking, but she reached forward to adjust her vent so she didn't notice Luke's annoyed glare.

"I started the car to get it warmed up, and I didn't buy a ticket. I don't need the show." He gestured to the sidewalk where she had been kissing her boyfriend moments ago.

Penelope shook her head. "Oh please! I've seen you kiss Lisa hello, goodnight, and at the bar for no reason."

Luke cracked his neck. "Not that much though."

"Okay. Sorry you're boring," she chirped.

"Maybe I shouldn't have offered you a ride after all."

"Whatever, Alvez. You two aren't even real friends, so it's not weird."

"Friends or not, I don't need to watch people make out."

Penelope sighed. That much was true. "So, do you think it's weird that Danny had way more in common with Rossi and Will than me?"

"It's a quiz Dave probably googled. I wouldn't make a life plan based on it."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Gee, I was just making conversation."

"Yeah, I know," Luke said resigned. "Okay, it's a little odd. Maybe you should have a little more in common. Most of the couples had most of the same answers at least."

"Yeah, but we do get along really well."

"Well, there ya go."

"Do you think you and Lisa would have answered the same? You should text her the questions and find out."

"No thanks. She and I are actually fairly out of sync on a lot of life values."

Penelope turned her eyes from the road to stare at him. "Are you two fighting?"

"No."

"So... that's not a good opinion to have of your relationship with her."

"It's not." He signaled and stopped at the red light as he realized this was not the topic of conversation he wanted to be on. "I had a decent amount in common with Matt."

"Two mushy peas that have fallen out of the pod," Penelope stated dryly.

Luke laughed. "Yeah, maybe." He turned onto her street. "Hey, Pen? He's being nice to you, right?"

Penelope giggled. "He is. Don't tell me you're worried about me."

Luke pulled up in front of her complex. "I just don't know him as well as some of my friends, and I feel a little responsible."

Penelope grabbed her bag and put her hand on the handle of the door. "No worries. He's very nice to me. Not really anything wrong. We get along just fine. Have a decent time. It's cool." She shrugged.

"Right, sort of one of those it's fun, it's okay, but that's about all it is?" Luke wasn't sure why he bothered asking.

"Uh, well, it's a little early to know if it stops there, but it's good for where it is. I'm happy."

"Right. Here, I'll walk you to your door." Luke began to unbuckle.

"No. I'm good. It's too cold. You can't park here, and I can just text you that there were no burglars in my locked and secured building when I get inside." She smiled at him and quickly got out and hustled to her door where she punched in the code, and he saw her disappear through the doors.

He waited until she text he saw the smiley face appear on his screen, he sent one back. He blew out a breath, shook his head, and pulled away from the curb.


	5. Chapter 5

I have been a complete disaster lately. I didn't mean to make you wait for updates. I sort of lost track of time which happens when my depression takes a turn. Also, there have been less reviews on this and the one shot, Summer (I am not trying to extract more with guilt, it's all up to individual readers) the only reason I mention is because when I get a review, pm, fave, whatever, it emails me and then eventually I remember I'm supposed to be a human being and do things like check email and updates and... brush my hair. Anyway, less reminders made me forget that it had been so long since I updated. Basically the louder you are the harder it is to not hear you. Mostly. Sometimes I also lay in bed all day and sleep and those days I forget anything exists.

I know some of you are a little upset with me for not starting new stuff but for right now that's just where I'm at with the show. I wish I felt better about it. But, hey, lets hope it turns around and then I am overwhelmed by Garvez, right?

* * *

"Hey everyone. How were the last two days without me?" Penelope questioned as she took a seat with her mug of tea in her hands.

"Boring and worthless." Rossi winked at her.

"How was your three day mini-getaway?" Tara asked.

"It was nice. We rented a place with his sister and her husband. They're lovely," Penelope answered.

"You're hanging out with his family?" Luke questioned.

Penelope shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It wasn't some big plan. We were thinking of doing something, and then his sister had called and mentioned her plans, and it just worked out."

"Still, isn't that sort of another step?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. I never meet the families." Emily tore apart her bagel in her hands. "Why do I comment? It never makes me look good," she asked as she threw the other half of the bagel back on the tray as they chuckled at her.

"Is it a big deal if someone meets your family?" Matt asked.

"I never introduce anyone to my family. At all. I introduce dates to you guys, but my brothers are a little… They just don't care all that much, unless I plan on marrying the guy. We're not all mushy like that."

"So have they met anyone?" Spencer asked.

"No. Guess not. Some boyfriends when I was in high school, but that's just logistics. I've never introduced anyone on purpose, but it's the same with all of you. It's not like I made sure you all met my brothers or anything. We compartmentalize. No one needs to meet unless we have to include them in the Christmas gift list." Penelope shrugged.

"Rafe's wife, Luciana, I didn't meet her until their engagement party. I realized I knew her from biology lab. Eddie's wife, Sofia, I met her when I went back to visit, but they'd been together for two years already, and now she's on the email list for possible gatherings that never happen, and that's about the extent of it. She's one of us, and there it ends." Penelope stirred her tea.

"Even though you've had serious relationships? Weren't you with someone for years?" Matt asked.

"Oh, yeah, but I knew already, didn't I?" Penelope shrugged. "Not worth the plane ticket. Although one of my brothers might come here if he has time on his road trip, so, if he does, maybe all of you can at least meet him. I guess that means he would meet Danny." Penelope stuck her bottom lip out as she found her pencil in her file.

"Interesting. You've been together for five months now?" Rossi questioned. "I suppose that's a good amount of time to know if you want to bother meeting the family. Unless you want to just have a casual thing like how you had with Kevin."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean for it to be casual."

Rossi smirked. "Yeah, but, when I found him at your apartment, the boy came in to stand up to me and tell me he didn't give a damn about the fraternization rules, and he was going to date you no matter what document I filed or who I told. So he wasn't very casual about it."

Penelope shrugged. "That was early on, and it didn't matter for a long time that it wasn't going anywhere."

"Right. Well, I can say I at least respected the man for standing up to me for you. Even if it was unnecessary." Rossi smiled at her. "But, hey, maybe things with Danny aren't going to be so casual for years, to the point where you won't even let him talk about moving in."

Penelope tipped her ear to the side. "Are you getting at something? Kevin and I broke up. I obviously knew it would be a bad idea to merge our stuff only to have to separate it again."

"Oh no no. That was a smart idea. I just was mentioning since Danny seems to be a better fit, maybe it will be different. That's all." Rossi picked up his coffee cup and went to refill it.

"So, he introduced you as his girlfriend then, obviously, but did he mention anything else?" JJ pressed with an innocent smile.

"What do you mean?"

"The holiday season is coming up," JJ prompted.

"Oh, well, he mentioned something about if I don't go back home that I could go with him to his family's house, but it's not a plan."

"But most years you don't go back home," JJ explained.

"That's true."

"So you might be meeting more of his family?" Tara asked. "That does seem like a step."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Penelope shrugged. "Never minded meeting their families or anything."

"You've got a few weeks, right? So I guess we'll see what happens." Emily smirked at Rossi as he took his seat next to her and whispered to her.

"That we will."

….

"Are you sure you want to stay here? You can come with us," JJ asked Penelope again.

"It's just Thanksgiving, and my brother might be coming into town. If I want to go somewhere, I can meet Danny in Jersey, but I'm fine. Go have a nice trip and lots of fun. And kisses to the children please." Penelope made a kissing sound to the phone and hung up.

It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and she had no intention of taking any of her teammates up on any of their offers. She didn't need it. Her Christmas plans with Danny were all but set in stone, and she didn't mind spending a holiday alone. She did it often over the years, but Thanksgiving was one of the more settled ones for her. There were movie marathons, fluffy socks, and all the snacks she wanted mixed into at least three days of rest. JJ was traveling to see family, so was Rossi. Tara was with hers. Emily's mom was in town, much to her chagrin. Spencer was mixing his life with Olivia's quite splendidly. Matt's hands were always full around the holidays, and she could only assume Luke was spending the days with his girlfriend since he hadn't mentioned going home. She sighed as she snuggled under her blanket with her fluffy pillow. She switched the channel to the romance movie marathon that she only indulged in for these few weeks of the year. She had ordered food, enough to have leftovers for three days and a little more in case her brother did show. At one of the romantic scenes, her door buzzer rang, and she didn't want to miss the movie, so she backed up towards the door and hit the door button to let the delivery driver up. She continued to watch the scene as she waited. Her purse was by the door. She grabbed the cash out of her bag and opened the door as she stood in the doorway facing the tv. Her leg was holding the door open as if it were a door stopper. When the kiss she had been waiting for happened, she let out an audible, "Aww." She was so enraptured by the scene that the voice behind her scared her.

"Really? You can't be serious." Luke's voice made Penelope jump.

"Geez, Alvez! What the hell?"

"You're standing in an open door and expecting somebody, and this is my fault?" She knew he had a point, so she shook her head at him. He flicked the money in her hand with his pointer finger. "No need to pay me for my company. I am generous."

She scowled at him. "And what have I done to enjoy your generosity tonight?"

"I knew you and I were the only ones not going out of town or having a ton of guests over, so I was going to see if you wanted to get dinner tonight, but I assume you already made a plan for that?" He nodded at the cash again.

"I ordered food, yes," she answered, but the commercial was over, and her gaze was back on the screen. She could feel the silence. "I ordered enough food, so I wouldn't have to leave for three days, so you can stay if you want, but you can't chastise my movie marathon. It doesn't happen all year!"

"I'm sure that's a travesty." Luke shucked his coat as he entered. The door buzzer went off, and, since she was so close to it, she jumped and yipped. She dropped the money in her hand. "Wow." Luke bent down to help her grab the stray bills. "Who knew all I had to do to kidnap you was get the sappy romance channel?"

"Ha." She frowned at him. She opened the door, and the delivery guy handed her food, which she passed back to Luke, loading his arms up. Then she handed the kid the wadded cash in her hand, and his eyes lit up when she said she didn't need change.

"That was nice of you," Luke told her as he followed her to put the food on the counter.

"I'm generous too, obviously." She grabbed drinks from the fridge,but she had no intention of changing her plans for him. "I eat out of the cartons because I want a little of everything. Then I stack it all in the fridge and pull it all out again later."

Luke chuckled. "Whatever." He grabbed a couple of cartons and set them on the coffee table where she placed a few. He grabbed the plastic forks out of the bag and handed her one. He watched her open all the boxes and leave them in a line on the table. Then he watched as she absentmindedly picked up one and then another, eating what she wanted. "So, we are sharing food then? Why even bother with the second drink?"

"You might drool in it," she answered without missing a beat.

He shook his head and opened a couple more cartons."Hey, why is there steak in here?"

"Oh, my brother might be coming, but I have no clue, but I figured Danny can have it when he gets back on the weekend if it's still here, but eat." She waved her fork at him. "I do actually have other food and can order Chinese tomorrow should my brother show up with a humongous appetite."

Luke grabbed the box and dug in. He settled back on the couch and watched the movie with her. When it was over, he set the carton down. "So that's a movie you watch every year?"

"No. Well, I will now. That was a new one, but some of them play every year. Some are new."

"Some? How many are there?"

"More than I can count. The marathon runs from Thanksgiving week to New Years."

"Holy shit! So this… won't be off tomorrow?"

"No. Of course not." Penelope grabbed her drink without ever looking at him. "Ooh, this is one of the good ones." She crossed her legs under herself as she excitedly got ready for the next one starting.

Luke shook his head. "Am I interrupting?"

"Right now?" she asked with a giggle.

"Ha ha. Did you want to be alone?"

"Oh, no. I don't mind. I might not be anyway, but I don't mind anyone coming over to join me. I mind having to get dressed and pretend to want to be at the Thanksgiving table with a bunch of someone's relatives whose names I can't remember." Penelope waved it off.

"Gotcha."

"Wait. Why aren't you with Lisa?" Penelope finally turned to him.

Luke shrugged. "No plans to be."

Penelope had turned back to the tv, then squinted, and turned back to him. "What does that mean?"

Luke sighed. "We broke up."

"Oh. Are you okay?"

"Yup. Haven't thought about it in a long time."

"Really? When did you break up?"

"About six months ago."

"What the fuck?" Penelope hit the mute on the remote. "Why don't I know about this?"

Luke shrugged. "You've been busy."

"Not every second of every day. Why did you hide this? Do the others know?"

"Matt knows. Not sure if the others have figured it out. I just didn't want to have to answer a bunch of questions while going through a breakup."

"And now? Can you tell me why you broke up?"

"It wasn't right. We were never right for each other. It was okay, but it wasn't life changing, and I could feel it, and I didn't want to waste anyone's time."

"I was sitting here thinking you were in a serious relationship only to find out you've been broken up longer than you were together. Guess that explains not seeing her in months. Huh, didn't think about it."

"You've been preoccupied," Luke stated plainly.

"I suppose so."

"And how is that?" Luke cleared his throat.

"Good, I guess. He's been fun, and we have a routine. All that."

Luke nodded with his bottom lip stuck out. "Right, so that's fine then."

"If you knew you didn't have plans here, why didn't you plan on going back to New York?"

"I'm going for Christmas, and this is really just such a small holiday."

"I get that." Penelope nodded. "So I guess you can movie marathon with me then. Did you want to stay the night? My couch pulls out."

"I don't mind if I do. Although, at some point is there a break for even one episode of literally any sitcom or drama just as a palate cleanser?"

Penelope giggled. "We'll see."

….

Penelope awoke to the smell of coffee being brewed. After trudging to the bathroom and getting semi-presentable, she shuffled to the kitchen. Luke was sitting at the dining room table reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee. "Good morning, Sunshine."

Penelope glared at him out of her eye that chose to stay mostly open. "Ugh! We don't have to be anywhere why not sleep in?"

"I did. I usually get up at five."

"Gross."

"Happy Thanksgiving to you too." She started to boil some water for her tea, then after stirring in her honey, she shuffled to the couch, plopped down on it, and turned on the tv. "It's not even nine," Luke protested.

"What part of non-stop movie marathon do you not understand?" She inhaled the scent of her warm tea, and she felt slightly perkier than she had just moments before. "And Happy Thanksgiving. I guess"

Luke put a hand over his heart, "Aww."

"Where did you get the newspaper?"

"I went downstairs. An older couple was heading out with multiple food trays, and I held the door for them. I mentioned I was waiting for my host to wake up, and they offered up their newspaper for entertainment."

"Well, I have no other entertainment for you either. Just the movies."

"You have board games, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"So maybe after out leftovers from cartons, we play some games. It's kind of a holiday thing to do."

"Sure, why not?" She yawned. "Did you want to shower?"

"I do. I only have one change of clean clothes in my go bag. I was going to replace it this week, but I didn't have the chance before I came over."

"I have a washer in there." She pointed towards a closet in the hallway. "Just wash whatever you need." She put her feet up on the table. "I'll be here."

….

"That is the first time I've had fries, tater tots, and broccoli for Thanksgiving dinner." Luke was going through the stack of board games she had dug up from her closet.

"You're welcome." She set her mug of tea on the dining room table as she took a seat and awaited his choice.

"Right, so you want to play-"

"Oh wait! This is a good kiss." She held up a hand and watched the screen across the room.

Luke watched with her. He understood what she meant, but also he wanted to have her attention. "I am not hating all of these movies, but any chance we can play the game without a movie? And then later I promise to watch a full one without any _negative_ commentary."

She sighed and turned the tv off. She had seen it before anyway. "Sure. So what game are we playing?"

"Okay we can play-"

Her phone started ringing, and she picked it up immediately. "Hello. Oh really? Okay, yes, of course. Okay, love you." She set her phone down.

Luke took a seat, as he opened a box. "Danny?" He shuffled the pieces around.

"Huh? Oh no. My brother. He should be here soon." She smiled at him happily.

"Oh. I can head out."

"Nonsense. There's enough food for all of us. I'm certain it would be better to have a referee if you and I are going to engage in Monopoly."

Luke smirked down at the box he was sorting through. "Won't JJ be jealous I met your brother first?"

"Meh. She'll be alright."

"Do we need to go pick him up from the airport?"

"Oh no. He's driving. He was doing a road trip, and he just didn't know if he could take the detour this way, but I guess since it's Thanksgiving he decided to change his trip schedule."

Luke dumped out the contents of the box he was holding. "Cool. So we can play a round of this game and save Monopoly for when there are witnesses."

….

Penelope hadn't bothered to get done up. She had put on leggings and a decent long sleeve, but other than that she was staying in comfy mode. She accused Luke of cheating when she came back from changing, and he swore he didn't look at her cards or move his game piece but they spent ten minutes arguing about it, so they hadn't finished even one game when her door buzzer rang. She jumped up and excitedly hit the unlock button. She opened the door and then stood in the hallway. Luke heard a squeal and a loud greeting that took a couple minutes before the voices got closer again. Penelope led the man inside, and he took his coat off and set down a backpack. Penelope hugged him again when his coat was hanging on the coat rack. Then she grabbed his hand and brought him towards the table where Luke stood up and stuck out his hand. "Manny, this is Luke."

Manny nodded at him with a kind smile and returned the handshake. "Is this your boyfriend?" He turned to his sister.

"No, we work together," Penelope corrected.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Luke." He nodded at him and then turned to his sister. "I thought Carlos said you had a boyfriend?"

"I do. His name is Danny though."

Manny stuck out his bottom lip. "Alright then, and is he busy?"

"He went to see his family in Jersey."

"You didn't have the time off work to go with him?" Manny winked at Luke as Penelope spun around to avoid his questioning.

"Yeah, but I don't want to intrude, and I like my Thanksgiving traditions, and I-"

"So he didn't want to share in your Thanksgiving?"

"I wouldn't ask him. Then he might feel obligated to sit around with me."

"But you asked Luke." Manny crossed his arms over his chest.

"Luke showed up uninvited, and he just stayed," Penelope countered.

"You let him stay," Manny countered.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "I plan on going to my boyfriend's family's house for Christmas. I am not being all…" She held her hands up and waved them around.

Manny rolled his eyes. "Commitment phobic and scared of deep emotional connections?"

Luke started chuckling, and Manny smiled at him and stuck his tongue out. Penelope glared at both of them. "No. I am not. It's been six months. We aren't getting married!"

Manny held up both hands in innocence. "Okay. Whatever you say mi hermana. No te diré qué hacer."

"Since when?" Penelope scowled at him. "You always tell me what to do."

"And you never listen. So here we are." Manny gestured around.

"Why was I excited for him to arrive?" Penelope asked Luke in faux innocence.

Luke chuckled. "I don't remember, but I can tell you I'm excited enough for both of us now."

Manny laughed at his joke. Penelope went to the kitchen. "I'm going to throw both of you out if you don't start being nice to me."

"Just be honest then." Manny followed her and opened the fridge, immediately grabbing a stack of cartons and pulling them out of the fridge.

Penelope handed him a plate to pile various foods on to warm up. Penelope eyed Luke who was still watching them from his place behind the chair he was leaning on. "Let's not talk about this right now."

Manny glanced between the two of them. "Just pretend he's not here." He turned to Luke and faux whispered, "Pretend you're not here." Luke laughed at him.

Penelope playfully slapped at her brother's chest. He held up his arms to block her. "Okay, okay. I wasn't sure you meeting Danny was a good idea. He offered to stay. I said no." Penelope waved it off as she went to grab his plate from the microwave.

Manny rolled his eyes. "Jesus! You are seriously already shutting him out, and you haven't even let him in yet? Only six months? Your process is becoming more efficient." She had followed him towards the table and hit his bicep as he took a seat. He gestured to her with his hand as he gave Luke an incredulous look.

Luke laughed and took a seat. "This is such a happy Thanksgiving."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Honestly?" Manny asked. "I just got engaged."

"What? Really? So you and Maria, huh?" Penelope put her hands up in excitement. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I could tell you in person. So here I am. That was part of the road trip, me proposing. I wanted to make it special. She'd have come with me here, but she wanted to fly back and be with her family on the holiday."

"That's awesome. What does that have to do with me though?"

" _Because_ Carlos is also very serious about a girl he is seeing. I don't see that not happening, and to be completely frank, if you don't want Mom's ring, one of us wanted to use it." Penelope's gaze dropped to the table, and Manny grabbed his drink and peered at Luke over it. "Penelope, look, we all finally got some closure. Mostly thanks to you. And yes, even Carlos is grateful. But, I just think that, if you never want to get married, that's your prerogative, but it would be nice to let Mom and Dad's really happy marriage live on in some way if we could."

Penelope cleared her throat. "Rafe has Dad's ring."

"Yes, and he's the oldest and was first to get married. It made sense, but why let Mom's ring go to waste?"

Penelope scrunched her nose up. "Do I have to have the answer to this right now?"

"Not at all." Manny shook his head. "But I think maybe you should wonder why you don't have it."

Penelope sighed. "Yeah, fine. I'll think about it."

Manny waved his fork to indicate that was enough. "So, who is winning?

"Luke cheated." Penelope pointed at him.

"I did not. You're paranoid. Even if I moved your piece eight spaces back, you still can't win."

"What if you knew what card was coming next?"

"But I didn't!"

Manny was laughing at them. "Oh hell, this is going to be a fun night."

…..

"Okay, we watched this whole thing. We can go to bed now, yes?" Manny gestured at the tv where the movie was at the end scene.

"Shh, it's not over yet." She used the back of her hand to hit his bicep.

"Make sure to tell me what happens. I'm sure I can't guess." Luke held up his phone, and Manny saw that his screen said mom. Luke disappeared down the hallway.

"Penelope. Penelope. Penelope!" Manny started poking her shoulder.

"Ugh what? It has one minute left!"

"It's just them kissing to music," he protested. He grabbed the remote and hit the channel button so that he could get her full attention. "Penelope, tell me what-"

Luke walked back in. "Forgot to charge my phone. My mother probably thinks I hung up on her."

Manny handed Luke his phone. "Here, use mine." Luke nodded gratefully and retreated. "Penelope, tell me-"

"About my boyfriend? Sure, he's smart. He used to-"

"No. If you wanted me to know about your boyfriend, you would have asked him to be here."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Luke wasn't invited."

"But he's here."

"I used to have a mega crush on him, but it didn't pan out. He got a girlfriend. Now I have a boyfriend. It's ancient history."

Manny scoffed. "Right. That's a good one. Tell me another."

"It is. Danny, _my boyfriend,_ is Luke's friend. He was one of the people Luke brought to a singles' party. So yeah, I'd say Luke and I weren't really written in the stars."

"Fine." Manny held up his hand and handed her the remote. "Hey, can I use your phone really quick? Just wanted to text Maria before I forget."

"Sure." Penelope unlocked her phone and handed it to him. She turned the channel back where she wanted it and continued to watch the beginning scene of the next movie.

Manny smirked as he went through her photo reel. It was what Carlos had told him he saw when she came to visit them last time. He clicked on a couple of the photos and then he sent them to his own phone. After he was done, he smiled at his sister, but she was enamored by the new leading man on screen. A few minutes later, Luke walked around the corner with a question on his face. He saw Penelope staring at the screen and Manny smirking at him. Manny raised the phone in his hand up to his forehead and did a small salute with it. Luke was staring at him, as he was attempting to discern what had happened. Then he felt a smile crawl up his face, and so he quickly put his hand up to his neck and averted his gaze to the floor. Manny watched him, and he had a big grin on his face too. That's what he thought.

He nodded and set Penelope's phone on the table. "There you go, mi hermana. Your phone is too fancy for me."

"It's just some modifications I made to it," she answered absentmindedly.

"Right, I was serious about going to bed. I drove for hours today," Manny told her.

"Yeah, I should head out," Luke agreed.

"You didn't stay here last night?" Manny asked.

"Yeah, but now you're on the couch," Penelope answered.

"That doesn't sound right. I should get the bed, and there are two couches out here. So, sounds like a plan." Manny pushed off the couch. "Don't worry about me. I'll sleep like a baby." He walked to her bedroom and grabbed a stack of blankets he had seen there earlier. He handed them to Luke. Then he grabbed his backpack and disappeared down the hall again.

Luke was standing there with the stack of blankets letting his surprise take a moment to dissipate. Penelope stood up and grabbed a couple of the blankets and set them on the smaller couch, "He is such a jerk. He used to take my good sleeping bag."

"You camped?"

"God, no. My sleeping bag for my room when I wanted to camp inside."

"Right." Luke set the other blankets on the bigger couch. He watched her unfold her blankets, and he followed suit, but, as he made his bed, he spoke again. "I can leave."

Penelope flicked her wrist. "Nah, why bother?" She walked past him to the bathroom to get ready for bed, and Luke went to the hall to get his clothes from the dryer.

After she was ready for bed, she snuggled under the blankets. Luke went to change and prepare for bed as well. When he came back, he had realized he needed to make an effort to get to the point where Penelope would at least see him as an option again. "Hey, Penelope."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for letting me meet your brother. I really like him."

"That's good. Some days I'm not as fond."

Luke silently chuckled. "But seriously. I am glad I met him. I like knowing more about you."

Penelope sat silently for a minute. "Really?"

"Yeah, you've not always been very forthcoming with me, and there's just never been anything I didn't like learning about you."

"Oh that's - that's a nice thing for you to say." Penelope bit her bottom lip and wiggled her nose from side to side. "I don't think I've learned much about you that I didn't like either."

"Not much?"

"Hmm, well you… uh, you-"

"Dated Lisa?"

"What?"

"You didn't like her much, right?"

Penelope shrugged. "She was okay. I just realized how-"

"That I must not be looking for anything special, so maybe I wasn't special either."

Penelope cleared her throat. "I don't want to say yes."

Luke chuckled, "And yet…" They both waited a beat, and then he reached behind him to turn off the light.

Penelope turned the sound down on the tv. "I thought you were super intriguing prior to that, if that helps."

Luke chuckled again. "Yeah, thanks. I think I'm all better now."

They watched the tv for a little while longer. Then she hit the button for the timer. "I guess we should get some sleep."

"Yeah, sure. Big day of romance movies ahead of us." Penelope picked up a throw pillow and tossed it in his direction. He caught it. "Jokes on you. I wanted another pillow."

* * *

Thanks for reviews, favs, follows or any other way you reach out, Twitter, Tumblr. Remember if I have not gotten back to you it's because I am failing at life right now and not because of you.

Thanks to Amanda, Thomais, and Silkia. All of whom have read various things I've written and helped make them better.


	6. Chapter 6

I am an absolute disaster lately. Depression has been kicking my ass. I have probably not replied to you but it's not you, it's me. I appreciate you all reviewing and faving, following or reaching out on other social media. I may not always get to it but know that I see you. Thank you.

* * *

"Who are you texting so damn much? Don't tell me you got another girlfriend just for the holidays." Penelope scowled at Luke as he entered the conference room while typing on his phone.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't. Thank you."

"It's not a dumb question. You were single two weeks ago, but things may have changed. Christmas is almost here. Maybe you got lonely."

Luke shook his head and pulled out his chair. "Thanks, Garcia."

"You're the one who didn't tell anyone about your breakup. We can't claim to know what's going on in your life." Rossi held one hand out wide and then clasped his hand over his stomach as he settled back into his chair. Luke glared at him.

Matt contained his laugh, but he was smiling. "He never texted Lisa much anyway."

"That's true. I've seen you text forty seven times in the past two days. When you were with Lisa, the most I saw was twenty four in any forty eight hour period, although I'm not sure which of those were personal versus work messages." Spencer smiled at him.

"This is all really helpful." Luke sighed.

"Okay, so who are you texting so much then?" JJ asked genuinely.

Luke shook his head. "It's definitely not work related," Emily announced.

"So, family maybe? Or maybe you don't have a girlfriend, but you do have a date?" Tara proposed.

Luke set his phone on the table and shook his head again. "None of the above. It's nothing." He shrugged.

Penelope smirked at the group. "Can you grab me that file?" She pointed with her chin behind him. He rolled his chair a foot away and grabbed the file she indicated. When his phone lit up again, she quickly grabbed it to see the preview of the message, but her smile faded immediately and turned into confusion. "Why are you texting Manny?"

Luke threw his head back in frustration. "No reason. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me." She scowled at him. "Why?"

"Who's Manny?" Matt asked.

Penelope ignored him as she glared at Luke. "Are you going to tell me?"

"No." Luke glared back at her.

They stared each other down for a few moments until, finally, she had to speak again. "Tell me why you're texting my brother." Her voice was serious but also curious.

Luke sighed. Then he put his hand to his forehead. "We are friends?"

"You're friends with her brother?" Tara let her eyes roam over the group who also seemed clueless.

Luke turned to glare at Penelope again and raised his eyebrows indicating to her that she caused this line of questioning. "We met over Thanksgiving, and we became friends."

"You met her brother over Thanksgiving? How?" JJ asked with genuine surprise.

Penelope brought her own hand to her head. "Luke came to my house for Thanksgiving, and my brother was able to make it to town."

"Why were you at Garcia's for Thanksgiving? I thought you weren't doing anything?" Spencer questioned them both.

Penelope sighed. "We didn't. Not really. We just watched movies and ate and played board games. None of us cooked; we ordered in. Nothing special. We stuck to our plans of doing nothing."

"Nothing… together though?" JJ asked.

"Unplanned. Just like everything else," Penelope answered.

"But now you're friends with her brother?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. He's funny, and we bonded over how Penelope falsely accuses you of cheating when you're just rolling dice. It was fun," Luke defended.

"Why is that a problem?" Rossi questioned Penelope with a smile.

Penelope was still glaring at Luke through the narrow slits her eyes had become. "It's not. It's just odd. Plus, you were hiding it?"

"No," Luke stated plainly.

"Whatever." Penelope rolled her eyes and went back to changing something on her tablet.

The team glanced around at each other. "That's it?" Emily asked. "Just 'whatever?'"

Penelope shrugged. "What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Nothing." Emily smiled and stuck her bottom lip out. Then she smirked at Rossi. "Okay, let's get this profile consult out of the way."

….

"We are all off for Christmas starting in three minutes. Are we all going to be able to handle this?" Tara smiled as they boarded the elevator together.

"I am." Luke smiled at their reflections in the elevator.

"Special plans, son?" Rossi smirked but never looked at him.

"Just a family gathering, but I have been looking forward to it."

"Yeah. Family time's not so bad." Matt smiled too.

"Speak for yourselves." Emily shook her head.

"Okay, so everyone has someone they want to see except Emily then?" JJ nudged her shoulder.

"I thought you were seeing Marc?" Penelope asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Emily's face was apathetic at best.

"I am excited. My mom has been remembering that it's Christmas, and she even remembers Olivia's name sometimes too. Sometimes she thinks she's someone else, but she's still nice to her." Spencer excitedly smiled.

"And you, our genius in dresses? Are you excited?" Rossi asked as they arrived on the bottom floor.

"Uh, sure. I don't think I want to drive that far just to - but yeah. It's just Jersey, right?" Penelope shrugged.

"Whoa, calm yourself." JJ glanced around at the others as they crossed the parking lot.

"Sorry, should I be excited for Jersey?"

"No, but maybe for meeting your boyfriend's family," Matt suggested.

"I met his sister already. It's just his parents and then some cousins on the actual day. It's not that interesting."

"Right. Well, I am heading out. I have to get to the airport." Luke waved at them.

"I guess this is goodbye for a few days, maybe a week and a half?" Tara questioned.

"Oh please! I'm sure I'll see you people the moment we all get bored of our families. First round's on me." Rossi waved and moved towards his car.

"Garcia, just let me know if you need anything okay?" JJ asked.

"I'm fine, Jayge. See you later. Merry Christmas."

….

"Baby, are you sure you can't go? You can stay in bed all day and have soup. No one will think you are antisocial," Danny pleaded with Penelope.

"Then I might get your family sick. Then I'll be the girl who got everyone sick for Christmas." Penelope picked up a box of tissues and set it near her bedside.

Danny sighed, "But you missed Thanksgiving because you weren't sure about your brother, and now this? We haven't spent a significant holiday together yet."

"That's just because there aren't that many, and these ones had bad timing." Penelope waved it off.

Danny sighed again. "I can stay. I don't mind. My family will understand. Just so you don't have to be alone."

"No, no. If I start feeling better, some of the team is in town. I can crash their family gatherings. I won't be alone, but, if I don't feel better, it's best if I am," Penelope explained.

Danny picked up his duffel bag. Then he came forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Okay. I see your point, but just call if you change your mind. I can get you a plane ticket so you don't have to drive up by yourself. Or maybe even-"

"I'll let you know. Don't worry about me. Just have a fun Christmas. I'll see you soon." Penelope patted his chest lovingly but lightly pushed him away. "Go. You shouldn't waste time you could be spending with your family."

"Okay, I love you." Danny moved towards her doorway.

"Me too." She called out. She waited for the door to close, and then she pushed the blankets off of her. She felt awful for lying to him, but she also wasn't sure why she didn't even want to put up the facade of caring about meeting his loved ones. She'd played the role before even when she didn't want to, but maybe it was age. She no longer felt she had the energy to pretend.

Her phone rang, and she went to retrieve it. She saw that it was JJ. "What's up, Jayge?"

"Hey, Garcia. You're sick?"

"Oh, uh, how did you-"

"Danny sent us a group text. He said he wasn't sure who was in town, but, whichever one of us is, could we check on you in the next couple days to make sure you're alright."

Penelope sighed and threw herself back on the bed. She landed with a plop. "JJ, I just-"

"Didn't want to go?"

"Yeah."

"You are always more than welcome to come with us."

"No, thank you. I'm fine. I was only anxious about having to go. I'm really feeling quite pleasant now, except for the whole guilt about lying thing."

"Okay. I'll tell everyone I already checked on you and not to worry."

"Thanks, Jayge. You're the best. Love you."

….

Danny had checked on her all night and the next morning. She sighed. It was still a day until Christmas, and it was getting annoying having to fake a sick voice over the phone. She text him that she lost her voice and that he should text her only until further notice.

The microwave dinged, and she retrieved her leftovers from the order from the night before. The tv was already tuned to the appropriate station. "Happy Christmas Eve, Penelope." She was about to dig in with her fork when she heard the door buzzer. She rolled her eyes. "I swear if he's sent me a get-well anything, I'm going to scream." She hit the button. "Who is it?"

"Let me up," Luke's voice called.

"Have you ever waited for an actual invitation?"

"Not anymore. I have shit I have to get done."

She rolled her eyes but hit the button. Then she realized he was supposed to be out of town already. When he got to her door that she left open, she whirled around. "Why are you here?"

"We already discussed my disregard for invitations."

She threw her head back. "No, I mean in D.C.?"

"I never said I was leaving."

"You said you were having a family gathering. Your family lives in New York, and you were headed to the airport," Penelope countered.

"My family does live in New York, I was headed to the airport, and I am having a family gathering."

"You're infuriating." Luke shrugged at her comment. Then he walked past her to her closet in the hallway. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"This is where you keep your butterfly suitcase. I saw it when we were doing laundry," he explained without explaining anything at all.

"And you need to borrow it?" She stuck her foot out and tapped it as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Nooooo." He slowly dragged the word out as if she was clueless. After he retrieved it from the top shelf, he went directly into her bedroom.

She pushed off her foot. "What the hell, Alvez?"

Luke went to her chair that he knew she threw outfits on when she was contemplating what to wear. He grabbed the first couple dresses and put them in the bag. "You're going to stay at my house."

"For what? We don't have to do an even exchange of sleepovers."

"No, we don't, but I have extra bedrooms and couches and a den where I just set up a couple air mattresses. You're joining the party," Luke explained as he grabbed her toiletry bag.

She moved forward and pushed him out of the way. "Why would I do that? I'm not doing that, and I can pack for myself."

"You can, but are you going to? If you don't, I will, and you just have to deal with it." Luke tilted his head at her, indicating she had no choice beyond that so she better take the opportunity.

Penelope growled in a high pitch. "God! Why are you so nauseating?"

"God-given gift?"

She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a few more things. "Why would you want me intruding on your family time? They never come here, right? So why add me to the mix?"

"I decided to host for once, and there are more people than normal. So believe me, there will be so much going on, it's not like you have to be the center of attention."

"And yet I so easily fall into that role." She smirked at him with a hint of attitude as she threw a nightie and a bra in the suitcase. Then she whirled around and realized that she probably didn't need to do that in front of him. She cleared her throat. "Get my other makeup bag from the bathroom - the small one with cats, not the big one with dogs."

Luke left and returned, and she was zipping up the bag. He stuffed the smaller bag at the top of her suitcase and held it while she zipped it the rest of the way, "I'd complain and tell you it's across town and you don't need this many wardrobe changes but actually I was planning to make you stay for days so instead of convincing you to use my washer, I guess you are prepared." He picked the suitcase up off the bed and walked out with it.

Penelope quickly stuck her untouched plate in the fridge, then hastily grabbed her coat, and put on her boots. She was wrapping a scarf around her neck as she hustled to follow him outside. Luke was already shutting the trunk when she reached his car with her purse in her hands. She huffed but opened her door and slid in. "Still didn't open my door for me."

Luke started the car. "Didn't have the chance while I was carrying your bag to my car."

She remained silent as they drove. "How many people are over there? And how did you explain to your family that someone from work is in need of your rescuing?"

"I didn't need to explain anything to my family. I already told them about Thanksgiving. They were looking forward to this. Plus, there are enough people eating and playing games that they don't care if their host goes across town really quick."

"What do you mean they were looking forward to this?" She was glaring at his profile as he calmly drove.

"I told them how you hosted me for Thanksgiving. I also told them that I was counting on you scheming your way into being alone. So honestly, if you hadn't pretended to be sick and actually decided to follow through with your plans, you would've sort of ruined mine."

Penelope scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What? You didn't-"

"Yeah, but you did, didn't you? Why are you alone at your house? Why didn't you go with Danny? You aren't sick. You're lucky I didn't come get you last night, but I figured I'd let you have some time to settle in and then screw it all up." He chuckled.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Can I tell your mother what a jerk you are?"

"Sure. I'm sure she'd love to know how you feel about me. I'm sure all our guests would."

"Oh my god, do they think I'm your girlfriend? Or are you -"

"No, I'm just pretty sure they'd like to know why you aren't with your boyfriend but you are with me. I'd ask, but I think I already know, but I'd love for you to tell me anyway." He chanced a glance at her, and he saw her narrowed gaze and fuming eyes. "I'm not holding my breath though."

"I have a boyfriend, one that I met because of you. What is your deal?" she asked angrily.

Luke scoffed. "Believe me, I didn't bring him for you. I didn't bring anybody for you. I thought between Tara and Emily some of my buddies who like the strong assertive types would be a good mix for them. I didn't know you'd date one of them seriously. I didn't know you'd go on other dates with other guys there. I also didn't-"

"You had a girlfriend. Why is it your choice to-"

"It's not, but I broke up with her the week before that. So no, I didn't have a girlfriend, but, even when I did, that was never my plan, to bring someone compatible for you, and you know what," he turned into his driveway, "apparently I didn't." He quickly shut off the car, popped the trunk, and got out. He already had her suitcase rolling up the driveway when he turned around, came back to her door and opened it. She was still sitting there staring at him evilly. "Door open." He walked back up the driveway and continued on his way rolling up the path. When he disappeared inside, he left the door of the house wide open too.

Penelope didn't particularly have time to ask what he meant by anything he'd just said. Whether he truly meant something by it or if he just didn't want to be responsible for setting _her_ up, there was no reason to ask anyway. She had a boyfriend whom she adored in many ways, and Alvez could just go to hell. She unbuckled with exaggeration, slammed the door of the car shut, and trudged up to the doorway. She almost yelled out angrily, but then she remembered there were other people here, and she couldn't argue with him within hearing distance. Her boots were almost off when she heard a familiar voice. "Mi hermana favorita!" Rafe's excited voice made her mouth drop open.

"Rafe! What are you doing here?" Penelope stepped forward to hug him.

Rafe steadied her when she almost toppled because of her halfway on boot. "Your not-boyfriend, Luke, invited me."

Penelope let her head drop. "Jesus, what is this? An inquisition?"

"More like an intervention, I'd say." Eddie came up next to hug her. "Hey, Sis."

Penelope hugged him and then pushed away. She bent over to discard her boots. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing." Luke rounded the corner. "Your bag is in my room if you need anything. I'm going out back. Be back in a minute." He disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

Penelope glared at the place where he was until her brother's voice broke into her concentration. "Okay then. Luciana and Sofia are helping Luke's mom bake cookies. Maria and Carlos' girlfriend, Imelda, are in the den with his sister. I'm going out back too." Rafe nodded at her.

"Me too, if only to escape the murderous look on your face," Eddie said as she pulled her scarf off and threw it in his direction.

She was alone in the entryway when she heard the basement door open. "Oh hey! You're Penelope?" The woman that was at about her height asked happily.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I've been blindsided. You are?"

"Ana, Luke's sister. My husband is the only Asian dude here. You'll spot him. His name is Minh. Nice to meet you. I need more popcorn though." She moved away towards the kitchen with the empty plastic bowl in her hands.

"Well, this is fun." Penelope shook her head. She felt her phone vibrate, and she saw four messages from Danny. Quickly, she answered them, since she was sure he was wondering why she hadn't if it was midday, and she claimed she had slept enough already. As soon as she replied, she got another reply back.

"Danny?" Luke asked and made her quickly look up from her phone.

"Yeah, he's just-"

"Checking on his sick girlfriend?" Luke rhetorically questioned as he moved past her to hang his coat on the hook where she had put hers.

"Are you upset I'm lying to your friend?"

"Not really, because I know you don't mean anything by it. I'm upset you put yourself in the position where you feel like you have to though." He grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen. "Mom, this is Penelope. My mom, Yara."

"Hi, I'd hug you, but I have flour on my hands," the woman replied.

"Us too," Luciana gestured with her hands.

"But we are happy to see you," Sofia added.

"It's been so long." Luciana smiled at her.

"Your - not-boyfriend- is that what we're calling it?" Sofia turned to the two other women there, then back to Penelope. "He had all but guaranteed that you were going to be here, but he said, if you weren't, he'd buy us all a nice purse of our choosing."

"It seemed like a no lose situation," Luciana agreed.

"What do you mean he-"

Luke cut Penelope off. "Don't worry about it. Let's go." He pulled her by the hand, down the hall where there were more voices.

"Oh! Hey, Sis." Carlos came to give her a hug when they arrived at the open doorway where there was a tv on the sports channel.

"Uh, hi." She hugged him back.

"That's my dad, Pablo." Luke pointed across the room to a man who turned her way to smile and wave, and then he returned to debating the game with Rafe. "And my brother in law." Luke pointed at another man talking to Eddie, who also smiled and waved.

Manny walked up to her slowly, as if he was a puppy that was in trouble. "Hey, mi hermana favorita."

"I'm your only sister, and Rafe already claimed that one." She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him.

"No hug?"

"I hugged you last month." She continued to scowl at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Welp, can't do shit about it now."

"Why do you-"

Luke grabbed her hand again. "Thanks, gents. Carry on." He pulled her down the hall to his bedroom. Then he shut the door.

"Yell at me in here. It's the furthest away from everyone, and it has thicker walls." Luke dropped his butt to the bed and set his elbows on his thighs as he clasped his hands ready for her to be angry at him.

Penelope paced a little bit, but Roxy got up to comfort her so she stopped until Roxy took a few pats on the head in exchange for leaving her alone. Penelope leaned against the door. "What is this?"

Luke averted his gaze to the floor. "This is me making sure you're not alone on the holidays. It's also me making sure I see my family. It's also me meeting the rest of your family because I want to."

Penelope decided to stare at the carpet beneath his feet."Why?"

Luke shook his head. "Penelope, mostly because I wanted to, partially because I was hoping you did too, but, even just as close friends on our team, this isn't an odd situation. You've met the majority of the team's families. I can host my family for Christmas one time, and your family seemed more than willing to try it out once too. I realize they might have to switch between going to their spouses some years, but, this once, it was doable."

"But you did it?"

Luke shook his head with a resigned smile on his face. "Yeah, Penelope, I did. I realize it's unorthodox. I understand this is confusing for you. I even understand how this is a little pushy of me or something, but, to be honest, I think you need a push. We both do, and I just saw an opportunity, and I took it. I realize you have a boyfriend, but the truth is I wish you didn't. I also wish I would've said something sooner. I'm sorry I didn't, but this is where we are, and it's your choice to make this just a quirky thing that happened among friends or the beginning of something more. I'm not pressuring you more than you already feel. I'm not expecting you to just decide that we should be more than what we are right now, but I'm saying, if you decide that, well, I would be pretty happy about it."

Penelope was staring at him, but her face wasn't angry, nor happy. It was maybe scared and possibly disbelieving. "Luke, why?"

"Why do I want more? Why I won't hold it against you? Why now?"

"Yes."

"I thought about more a long time ago. It didn't pan out, but it didn't go away. It just got to be a bigger need. I won't hold it against you because you are in a relationship, and, if you need to see that through, then I can't fault you for it, but I'm tired of waiting on myself. If I'm waiting on you, fine. But if I do nothing at all, then I can only blame myself."

"Luke, I don't know. I liked you before, a lot, but it didn't happen. Not saying that it can't, but I do have a boyfriend, and there's nothing wrong with him. He's actually quite lovely."

"And I understand that." Luke nodded. "So, do you want to help with the baking, watch the game, or go downstairs and see what the riff raff have decided to play?"

Penelope shook her head. "Actually, can I just sit down for a second? I might actually feel a little sick now."

"You mean you are confused and unsure. That's fine." Luke gestured to the bed next to him.

Penelope took a seat and sat silently for a while. Luke watched her for a few minutes. Then he decided to inspect his hands that were hanging between his legs as he sat forward.

Penelope threw herself back on the bed and put her forearm over her eyes, only to pull it away a second later and adjust her glasses. "Luke, this is… very hard to comprehend in such a short amount of time."

"Yeah, I hear ya. I wasn't sure how insane I was-"

"Very. Very insane."

Luke chuckled. "Gotcha, but there was little I could do once I got the ball rolling."

"Why is my bag in here?"

"Because you and I are going to have to share. My house isn't that big, Penelope. I planned on sleeping on the floor. I have slept on the ground in a desert. I can survive luxury carpeting."

"And I just tell Danny that I shared a bedroom with you because our families needed more space?"

"I don't care what you tell Danny. That's up to you, and it's none of my business. You were already lying about the why, so if you lie about the how, that's on you."

"Don't you think it's Danny's business if I'm here though?"

"No offense, but don't you think it's his business that you're not there?"

"Are you trying to say something to me? Just say it."

"If he was the one, you'd have gone with him. If he was the one, you'd have been with him on Thanksgiving. If you really loved him, you'd be more excited about your relationship than telling everyone it's fine. I can say that about people I've dated. It was okay. So what? But that's still up to you." Luke shrugged and glanced at her over his shoulder. "I've been wrong before."

"No shit." She shut her eyes in exhaustion. "And who said if he's not right for me, somehow you are?"

"I'm not saying that. Not exactly. As far as your relationship with him, as a friend, I don't think it's your final act. As something more than a friend, I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to see if this is."

"Oh really? So why didn't you until now?"

"I'm an idiot? But also, just because I have been thinking about this for a while, doesn't make the logistics of it easier to figure out."

Penelope waited a few more moments. "Okay, so I guess I'll go hang out with the riff raff then." She sat up and then scooted forward off the bed.

Luke caught her hand before she made it to the door. "Penelope, we're just friends. That's all this has to be. Don't fret about it. That's what I meant by saying this was a no pressure situation. I already made it seem high pressure, so I want you to know, I am not expecting you to know anything or give me any answers that you don't have."

Penelope felt her heartbeat pick up when she felt him grab her hand and even more so when he spun her around and was speaking to her so sincerely. "Then maybe you should stop holding my hand," she said softly. "It's sort of an intimate thing to do."

Luke dropped her hand as she said it. "Will do. I wasn't thinking."

"Okay, I'm heading downstairs. No more surprises for at least a week please."


	7. Chapter 7

I am still dealing with my depression. But I got the energy today so here is an update. Hopefully I will get to Summer soon as well. Thank you for still reviewing and reaching out, it means a lot. Sometimes I cant get back to you, but know that that is on me.

* * *

There was a phone ringing, and Luke was wondering why on Earth someone decided to call him early on Christmas morning. He rarely slept in, but Christmas Eve was also one of the rare days he stayed up until the wee hours too. And with company and dinners and games, it was a later night than usual. He crawled over to his nightstand and hit the answer button while he yawned, "Hello."

"Luke?"

Luke's eyes went wide as he heard Danny's voice. "Oh hey, Danny. Uh, how are you?"

"How am I? Why are you answering my girlfriend's phone at seven in the morning? Or at all?"

"You texted us all to check on her. I went to round her up yesterday to come to my house with my family. That's all. Not enough room in my house, so I was sleeping on the floor and heard a phone ring. My bad."

"Your bad?" There was a pause. "Where is she?"

"Still sleeping. Just give me a second, and you can talk to her yourself." Luke hit the mute button on the phone. Then he quickly stood up to shake Penelope who was definitely a heavy sleeper. "Penelope! Penelope! It's Danny. He's on the phone. I accidentally answered it, and he's rightfully peeved."

"What?" Penelope sat straight up, but her eyes were trying to adjust. "You what?"

"I accidentally answered your phone. I told Danny that I invited you over here since he asked us to check on you. He's on the phone." He handed her the phone and then stepped away.

She took a deep breath, then hit the unmute button. "Hi honey, why-"

"Why are you at Luke's house? Why didn't you tell me? And why do you not sound sick at all?"

"He knew I was at home alone, and he came over to get me yesterday. In all honesty, he didn't leave me much of a choice, but I didn't think about telling you last night, and-"

"Really? Because I texted you to make sure you were okay, so I think you could've easily mentioned that you were going to his house. I texted you good night last night, so I think you could've easily mentioned that you were saying goodnight from his house. And the sick thing?"

"You interrupted, so I didn't get a chance to say-"

"Say you weren't sick at all? Or tell me another lie?"

"Danny, I- " She wasn't sure what to say. She could lie more and get herself in deeper, but she didn't think that was a good idea. But then again, the truth never seemed like it was either.

"I won't interrupt you. Go ahead."

"Danny, I wasn't sick. I just didn't feel good about going with you to your family's house. We haven't been together that long, and I wasn't sure if it was… going to matter long term." She sighed and peered up at Luke who had watched her at first but was now folding his blanket multiple times over. "And I didn't mention Luke inviting me over because obviously then you'd know the being sick thing was a lie." She waited a moment. She could hear Danny scoffing and grunting. She pictured him pacing.

"I actually believe you. Mostly because it felt like you were trying to keep things more casual than it seems like they would be at this point, considering how much time we spend together. But why Luke's?"

"Honestly? I can tell you JJ invited me first, but she was less pushy." Penelope did actually know that was the truth. Even though she did prefer Luke's invitation, if JJ had come over and packed her a bag, she'd probably have caved just as easily.

"Okay. I understand, but this isn't something that I can ignore. I was calling you before morning mass. My mom makes us go, and it's long, and I didn't know if I would talk to you for most of the day with all the activities going on. So even though I figured you'd be sleeping, I wanted to leave you a nice voice message, but maybe this happened for a reason. So how about this? You call me when you figure out if you want this to go further because I don't want to be at the same place next year with you unsure of meeting people in my life."

"Okay. Okay. I can do that. So wait, are we-"

"Broken up? Maybe. I guess we are. Is that what you want?"

"On Christmas? Like this? Not really, but I see why that's where we are. I'll… call you then."

"Okay."

"Uh, I still hope you have a good day with your family."

"Yeah, thanks. Talk to you later then."

Penelope held the phone to her ear even though he had hung up already. She stared at the bedspread for a moment. Then she tossed the phone across it. "My god. What a way to start Christmas day." She dropped her head in her hands.

Luke walked towards the bed. "I'm so sorry, Garcia. I was so groggy, and I just assumed it was mine."

Penelope waved a hand. "Yeah, gotcha. It's - it is what it is." She turned to look at him. There was barely the hint of light from the predawn outside. "Please tell me I don't have to get up yet."

Luke chuckled, "No. Sleep some more."

"Aren't you going to sleep? We all went to bed three and a half hours ago. No one's up yet." She gestured to where he already folded up his blankets and set his pillow on the chair.

"I… it's okay. I can just go make sure things are cleaned up from last night and-"

"Luke, just get in bed. I no longer have a boyfriend so who cares if we fall asleep together." She flopped back down and pulled the blanket back up. "Good night," she yawned and curled into the fetal position.

Luke stood at the edge of the bed for a full two minutes before he deciphered what she said and agreed that it was okay. He crawled in and pulled the covers over himself. As he fluffed the pillow, he heard her voice again. "Please don't tell me you toss and turn all night."

"Technically, it's morning. And no. Plus, I'm more awake than I should be right now, but that's because-"

"This morning was already a -"

"Super good morning? Yeah. Plus, I got a little cold standing there without blankets."

Penelope turned around so she was facing him, but her eyes were still almost closed. "Fine." She curled up next to him and put her leg over his and rested her cheek on his chest. "Now go to sleep."

He chuckled. "Of course." He leaned down to lightly kiss her forehead, but he barely let his lips land there. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

….

"Hello!" There was another bang on the door.

"I think the kids are up," Penelope muttered as she tightened her arms around Luke's middle.

Luke was a little more awake than her but just as disinclined to get up and do something about it. The arm he had around her back came to her hip to hold her to him. "Yeah, they are. Maybe they want to open their presents."

"Hey! We need to be hosted! We are guests!" They heard Minh's voice call through the door.

"Okay. Just give us a minute. We'll be right there," Luke called out. He shook her lightly with the arm around her back. "Come on. We have to go. I didn't realize how much I didn't think this through. Hosting is the worst."

"Ya don't say?" Penelope muttered, then pushed off his chest to sit up. She trudged to the bathroom and then reemerged. He went in, and she realized he'd seen her in her small nightie. The night before she had purposely worn her robe until she slid in the covers. She shrugged. It didn't matter now anyway. She moved towards her bag that she half dumped out on the chair, and she pulled out a pair of comfy leggings and a sweater. Then as she pulled out her bra, and it flung out of her grip, Luke came out of the bathroom.

He caught it in his hands. "Awesome. Can I keep it?" He threw it back at her with a smile.

"Ha ha. Although, I have no other gifts for you or anyone else for that matter." Her disregard for his presence made him raise his eyes at her. As he stepped into the sweats he procured from his closet and pulled the shirt over his head, he watched her dress.

Using the arm of the chair as a landing place for her butt, she pulled the leggings up under nightie. Then she put the bra on under it, he watched as she hooked it and turned it to pull the straps over her shoulders. "If you want to take the nightie off and let me help you instead, I'd consider that a valuable present."

Penelope let her arms drop to her sides. "Should I have gone in the bathroom?" She stuck her neck out at him, but she continued to dress by quickly pulling the sweater on and pulling the flimsier garment through the neck of it and tossing it aside. "I brushed my hair and my teeth. That's enough, right?"

"I'm perfectly content with that, yes." Luke came over to her, and he put his arms around her. "It's still not a pressure situation. I don't expect you to have answers." He kissed her forehead and let her go. "C'mon. This is just Christmas morning. We can put on nice clothes for dinner if we want to."

The two of them came down the hallway, and they saw their families gathered around the kitchen and dining room - some of them in pajamas, some of them picking at cookies despite the early hour, and the others having a more appropriate breakfast.

"Ah, you two decided to join us then?" Manny asked with a smile.

"Like you all have been up for very long." Penelope scowled at her brother and made her way to the fridge to get her own breakfast.

"I'm just not used to Luke not being the first one up in the morning," Pablo announced.

"Si, he is. No matter what," Yara agreed.

"Not when he's getting-" Luke threw the cap of his water at his sister to stop her from speaking. Ana rolled her eyes. "Okay, then why weren't you two out here first?"

Penelope sighed. "Because my boyfriend called me early this morning, and Luke answered, and now I don't have a boyfriend. It wore me out, so we went back to sleep." Penelope poured some water into a glass instead of grabbing a bottle.

"I see how you're real torn up about it," Carlos muttered to a round of laughter.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Well, it probably wasn't how he wanted to start Christmas morning."

"He'll be alright," Luke stated casually.

Penelope walked by him and thumped his chest with the back of her hand, and he pretended to rub it as if it hurt. "He's your friend."

"Not really," Luke muttered back as he poured himself some coffee.

"Well, now that that's sorted out," Rafe raised an eyebrow at the rest of the people there.

"Yeah, are you two a thing now?" Luciana questioned.

Penelope glared at her. "I broke up with my boyfriend less than four hours ago."

"That doesn't answer the question," Maria countered.

"Should we open presents? Penelope rudely didn't get anyone anything." Luke diverted her next playful hit and rounded the counter.

"Sure, and then you two can give us all a present and sort this thing out since it's clear we're not all here for no reason." Pablo stood up and put his plate in the sink. Penelope was next to him making her tea. "Not that we haven't enjoyed meeting you anyway, but c'mon."

Penelope gestured out with both hands at Luke. He laughed as he went to sit down. "Sorry, but it's not me. I can't be held responsible for other peoples comments," he told her.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, everyone. I am very much still struggling with mental illness but I also did get back into a screenplay I started long ago and that has made me happy. So hey, that's something. I will try to update Summer soon. Thank you, to anyone who reviews, likes, favs or reaches out on other social media. I appreciate it.

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"It was great to meet everyone, despite us getting no present from Penelope of any kind." Minh hugged Maria and Imelda.

"And I don't regret that at all, amazingly," Penelope chimed in when he got to her for a hug.

"Okay, well, you two let us know when you decide to figure this out. You can just alert us through a group text so we can all know at once and cut out any hassle." Manny stated as he gave Luke a hug.

"I'm wondering why I don't make the trek back to California every year. It's so weird." Penelope tilted her head in contemplation.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see you both later." Carlos waved it off before grabbing Imelda's hand.

"Si, we will see you later then." Yara gave Penelope a kiss on the cheek. "We're only a short trip away so that distance excuse doesn't work on us."

Penelope giggled. "Noted."

Luke made his way through hugging everyone and landed on Rafe last. Rafe whispered something to him, and Penelope had to roll her eyes because none of these people had been subtle about hints at all in the past few days.

Eddie picked up his wife's bag. "Okay, to security we go. Eleven brown people and one yellow, this isn't going to be quick. Sure you don't want to come with, Sis? You can smile at them and pretend like you hired us to carry your bags."

"Hilarious." Penelope crossed her arms as Luke waved goodbye to their large crowd of visitors.

"Do you want to watch them leave?" Luke asked her.

"Like watch them go through security and then walk until they disappear around the corner?" Penelope questioned with attitude.

"So that's a yes." Luke pointed at a spot that overlooked the security area. They could sit underneath the stairs leading up, but there were glass windows in front of them so, when people were done with security, they had to get on the escalators going down.

"Sitting on the ground?"

"Yup." Luke took a seat and didn't wait for her to agree because he already knew she would.

"We don't have to wave a final goodbye to these idiots," she muttered. Then after a moment, "Why couldn't anyone stay until New Years?"

Luke laughed. "I think it was a compromise for most of your brothers so that they could at least spend New Years with some of their wives' families. My family just thought it would be simpler if we dropped them all off at the same time."

"Well that's nice and all, but they could've stayed."

Luke shrugged. "They've already been here a week. I'm sure they wanted us to-"

"'Figure this out,'" she quoted in the voice she'd heard from multiple people over the past few days.

Luke shook his head as he grinned. "Or have some time to recuperate before we have to get back to our jobs."

"Oh." Penelope shrugged.

"Penelope, there is still no pressure. They're all joking, and I think that, if anything, they'll just think of this as the year we hosted our families because it worked out that way. It's not like they're expecting anything. Not really."

"You can't honestly believe that."

"I think they understand that we are real people with real reasons to date or not date."

Penelope shrugged again. "Sure. Yeah." She sat back against the wall of the staircase behind her. She let her gaze wander through the glass in front of her. She could see the beginning of the security line, and she could see that their guests had made it about midway through. There was a couple that was at the entrance of security that was holding onto each other and kissing, then hugging and kissing one more time. "Where do you think she's going?"

Luke followed her gaze and observed the couple. "I don't know, but it's probably far. Or for a long time. Or maybe it's just for two days, but they can't say goodbye anyway."

Penelope smiled. "Yeah, maybe. Airports are always full of emotion, but I suppose that's why so many movies are set in them. Leaving, arriving, excited to venture somewhere new, the whole nine. But that's why there are always good kisses at the airport. No offense to them, but I'm doubting she gets kissed like that when she goes to the grocery store."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Probably not, but maybe she should. Maybe if they always kissed like that even when they aren't going to be separated, maybe they'd be even happier, even when they're not at the airport."

Penelope smiled widely as she watched the two people touch hands until the last moment. "Maybe."

"Why don't you think people do that? Why do you think people just start pecking each other on the lips, and that's enough?"

"I have no idea. I never understood it. Even when I was in a relationship and that happened after a while, I never understood. Never. I still thought we should maul each other's faces off before work, but, hey, what do I know?"

"Maul faces?" Luke chuckled.

Penelope giggled. "Yeah, you know, why not? Why give that up? Isn't that what people love about being together? You have someone to be a partner and a best friend, but also you get to stick your tongue in their mouth and have them touch your butt. Why let that die out? Why get used to it? I never get used to it. I always want that, even with Kevin, years later, and I didn't even want him that much in the first place."

Luke was observing her as she spoke. She was still watching the woman who was standing backwards in line and waving. "I can see that. I never wanted it to die out either, but people always claim it does. My mother always kisses my father hello. Whenever he comes in, they kiss - a real kiss, not a greeting. So I guess it doesn't have to fade. Of course, I'm not sure if they had been much more frisky before that. But still, that was more than a lot of people did. I also know they had plenty of sex because I heard them a few times when I was a kid, but I had no clue what it was. And he always pinched my mom's butt when she was making breakfast."

"He still does. He did it the other day when I was going to get more tea." Penelope giggled when she turned to him.

Luke chuckled. "That sounds about right." He watched her bring her knees up and align her ankles underneath them. "Hey, come here." He put his arm behind her, between her and the wall, and she scooted closer to him.

"We've become very good at cuddling each other," she mentioned as she glanced out the glass again to check where their families were.

"We have. I'm not sure how I slept before you provided me with a Penelope blanket." Luke put his hand to her hair and brought her close to him, to kiss her temple. He watched her close her eyes when he let his lips linger there. It made him smile. "Penelope, do you like all those romance movies because you're waiting for someone to commandeer a sleigh and chase after you when you mistake their argument with their sister for an argument with their wife, and they have to chase you to the train station before you take the last way out of town for the next three days? Or is there another reason?"

Penelope giggled and bit her lip. "I know it probably seems that way, but I just like the idea of someone caring that much. It's not the cheesiness of it as much as it's the idea that someone is willing to make a really big effort for you. I know the parts where people run after you and play you a love song and get it to snow for the first time in ten years and end the drought in the process are fantastical ideas that are entertaining but ridiculous. I don't think it has to be like that, but it has to be more than average." She felt Luke nod against her head, and she placed her hand on his leg. The fact that he had organized and flown her family out along with his was exactly the type of thing she wanted. It was exactly the kind of thing that made her realize that if anyone was going to make sure to do something to make her happy, even if it was a little out there, it was Luke. But there was a part of her that was waiting for that moment, the moment he just described, the crazy all-out moment where he had to do something so over the top that it was undeniable, but that contradicted her other desire, the desire to want there to be so much emotion and love that she'd get a fantastic kiss everyday forever, and having a man chase her through an ice skating rink in pink skates just to get to her on the other side to give her a teddy bear bigger than a motorcycle wasn't actually what she truly wanted. That was a moment, those were just moments that happened, but what she truly wanted was to feel that at any minute either of them would do such a thing if they had to, but they wouldn't have to because they would already belong to each other. Her face broke out in a wide grin. Then she bit her lip to try and contain her chuckle. "Hey, Luke."

He moved away from her a few inches when she pulled away. "Yeah?" His breath caught when he saw her leaning in, but, before he had any chance to realize otherwise, he was already kissing her back. It was one of those kisses, the ones she made him stay quiet during when they came on screen. He knew it was because he had never felt this much happening all at once, especially not on a first kiss. His hands were holding her face to him, and her hands were tugging on his shirt to keep him close.

They only pulled apart when they heard the muffled cheers and hollers. When they both turned to see through the glass, they saw their relatives all smiling and hollering at them from just below where they were sitting. Both of them almost attempted to hide their faces, but they did manage to wave at the people who were quickly disappearing down the escalator and towards their gates.

"Uh, the cheering, that happens in some of your movies." Luke shyly smirked at her and then dropped his gaze to the floor.

"True." She waited for him to look at her again. "It's actually better because no actor could play you as perfectly as you do."

"That almost sounds like a line," he leaned in closely, barely giving their eyes enough room to focus on each other.

"What did Rafe tell you?"

"He said I should watch those movies with you and make note of which ridiculous engagements you fawned over."

Penelope suppressed her chuckle, "He's an idiot. Don't listen."

"Why? Is he wrong?"

"No. Because those movies will never be real but this," she tugged on his shirt to close the last inch of space between them, "is _not_ like the movies."


End file.
